Plan B: Ballad of Swords
by TaroStrike
Summary: Every thousand years the six primal elements of the planet enter a state of chaos until the chosen ones gather and quell their raging forces. The chosen ones were defeated so this is not their story. This is the story about destiny's second picks. Eventual NessxLucas RockxPit
1. Those Chosen by the Planet

**Super Smash Bros**

 **Plan: B**

 **Ballad of Swords**

 **Disclaimer:**

-The author does not own any part of ANY video game series, including but not limited to the characters of the story.

-This story is entirely fictional, based from purely fictional premise, none of the characters, actions characters partake in, magic spells, many contraptions found here-in did not happen/do not actually exist.

-No money was made from the creation or distribution of this fic.

-No animals, people, monsters, anthropomorphs, or extra-terrestrials were hurt in the making of this fic.

-The author does not encourage nor endorse others to partake in actions as described within the story.

 **Warnings:**

This story is rated M+ for the following reasons:

-Strong language

-Violence and gore

-Character deaths

-Graphic depictions of sexual acts

If any of these themes offend you, please do not continue to read this story.

 **Misc Notes from the Author:**

This is in essence a remake of a story I wrote a long time ago called "A Dance of Swords". Originally Marth and Roy were my main characters in the medieval/magic/fantasy world of Ru'Taien.

This time around I've decided to throw all the video games I want at this story but Ness and Lucas are the eventual "main" characters. Plenty of the others will play huge major roles but those two are my focus.

This is completely AU, all the characters are being "humanized" (is that a term?) for this story. So while Bowser will remain quite behemoth, for the sake of this story he's a large human and not a spiky turtle lizard. At least that's how I'm going to describe the characters, if you prefer to imagine them still as non-human creatures then by all means go ahead.

This story will delve into seriousness, cuteness, humor, romance, adventure, sadness, and rage. Oh… and there will be lots of yaoi… just a heads up. I'm really excited to see how this turns out so I hope you enjoy this with me!

Oh! And feel free to send me a message on Tumblr(TaroStrike), Twitter( tarostrikesback), Facebook(Taro Strike), Google+(Taro Strike), or here(TaroStrike)

Have fun and please leave me feedback!

* * *

 ** **Prologue: Those Chosen by the Planet****

* * *

"Some of you have heard of it as if it were a legend…" In the middle of a huge hexagonal amphitheater, thousands of people were gathered in the surrounding seats. The theater was carved deep into an island, the stage entrenched far below sea level. A young woman in a white gown and silver hair walked along the edge of the stage, her voice carried to each spectator in the amphitheater by magic as to be heard as clear as though she were standing beside each person present, "The legend states that every thousand years the elemental forces of our world erupt into chaos, and the world darkens until the champions of the elements gather and quell these primal forces."

The young lady walked across the stage, her bare feet did not make a sound as her steps danced from one side of the theater to the other to flow with her words, "A legend does no justice to the champions who have gathered today to save us. Each chosen by a primal element of Ru'Taien to be its champion, and today they are here to put their extraordinary powers towards guarding the entire planet for the next thousand years to come!"

The crowd burst into cheers as the six champions began their descent to the stage from six different corners of the amphitheater. Each pathway of the amphitheater gave off a colored glow for the hero walking down its path. Down an intense red path for fire walked the hero Mario, followed closely by his guardian Ryu. The next path was a royal blue for water and on it walked a young boy with pink hair who watched the crowd with wide curious eyes known to many as Kirby and followed by his guardian Shulk. The yellow path was for earth, and the muscular leader of the Kongs proudly strutted through, followed closely by a mysterious man clad in yellow known as Paku. The forest green color was that of wind which had chosen the swordsman Link and his guardian Cloud. Purple was for the element of lightning upon which walked the lawman named Fox who was guarded from the shadows by the ever watchful Snake. And finally the element of ice had a lighter icy blue for its hue, and Prince Marth walked down that road with his mercenary guard Ike nearby.

The crowd settled as all six champions stepped upon the center platform. Their guardians remained at the edge of the stage as each champion climbed the steps. The six heroes nodded to each other and then held their arms up to the sky. The colorful glow of the amphitheater merged to became a brilliant white and encircled the heroes before the light of their element shot up from their bodies into the the clouds above. A great amount of power was expelled from each of the six heroes to bring forth the torrential force of each of their elements. The very essence of each element began to solidify high above them, creating six different grand crystals that began a slow descent to the heroes below.

The people watched in awe and amazement as the great miracle took place to quell the conflicting elements. Everyone was so enraptured by the spectacle that no one took notice of a shadow that had begun to overtake the island.

The crystals completed their manifestation as the heroes saw what approached. Mario's mouth dropped for a moment before he attempted to gather the power of fire to his hand. Unable to draw much power, he found himself out of breath, fatigued by using his energy to call down his raw element. He noticed the other champions were in similar conditions.

In short order, the shadow passed over the island completely, all twelve members of the heroic party were frozen in time, trapped inside of crystals themselves.

The people panicked, scattering to the ocean in desperate attempt to flee. If the heroes couldn't stop the encroaching force, then what use were they? Others who understood the dire situation sought help, but with the best help trapped below, all seemed lost.

The shadow's grasp encircled the crystal containment of the elements, but the light of the crystals burst forth bright enough to shine across the world, repelling the darkness for a moment before they ascended to the sky.

"What's happening Corrin?" The people asked as they shielded their eyes from the light.

The young lady in white watched as the crystals lifted higher, dragging their frozen heroes captive behind them, "The world is in danger, but should the chosen ones fail in restoring balance it is said that before the world falls to darkness the elements would each choose a second champion."

With a final destructive explosion of energy each crystal blasted itself off through sky, scattering themselves across the globe.

"All my hope now to the heroes who must follow…"

Near the top of a mountain within a far away country, a young boy awoke from a sound sleep by a sound as though he were being spoken to. Confused, he opened his window and looked out toward the sky. His violet eyes reflected the star light, but amongst the stars he saw something else streak across the heavens. The purple light it gave off was brilliant and beautiful. He felt for some reason that it was there just for him, bathing him in the purple light as if he were special for some unknown reason. Just as quickly as the light came it had passed over the far horizon and was gone. Unsure what to make of it, the boy closed his window again and returned to his bed.

In a nearby country, a slightly older boy looked toward the same direction at the falling purple light, "Father? Did you see that?"

An older man stared off in the direction the light had gone, "So… it has come to pass after all…"

"Father?" The boy questioned again.

The older man put his hands on his son's shoulders, "I am sorry, but another great burden has just fallen upon you."

Across the planet, ten others looked up to the sky and saw a light, not yet aware of how that light would reshape their destinies forever.

The crystals tunneled their way through the sky, leaving their frozen heroes hidden within the lands of the highest concentration of their natural element while the crystals, having chosen their new champions, shattered into seven fragments each and fell to the earth. A silent wish whispered across the planet that the next time the crystals be brought together may it be by those not dwelling in darkness.

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 ** **End Prologue****

Let me know what you think in the comments!


	2. Pollyanna

Thanks for reading on to the actual Chapter 1 of Plan B!

Just a quick warning, while this story will feature a fully drawn out plot, there will be a lot of sexual action and references woven into the world and characters. If this offends you then it would probably be a good idea to not go any further. I want people to enjoy the story, but it is what it is.

Thank you all for your support.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 1: Pollyanna****

* * *

Three years later…

A cool breeze gently blew through the sleepy village of Onett as the sun peaked over the mountains on the horizon. It was still dark as two figures in tattered cloaks approached a large building on the southern end of town.

A man wearing a finned helmet leaned against the wall near the entrance; he looked from side to side, but mostly was dozing in the early morning hours. Dozing enough that he failed to notice the two shadows slip along the side of the building.

A window slid open and the two figures climbed inside, "You were right, they did get restocked!"

"See? They're telling everyone in town there's no food when they're sitting on tonnes of it!" The two trespassers made their way up the rows of produce and started filling bags they brought with them.

"We gotta hurry," one said as he stuffed as much as he could into his sack, "You never know when Frank is gonna…" the sound of an opening door hushed the statement as the two quickly found hiding spots.

"...that it's part of the plan, but how are we going to explain all this food?" The boys peeked from between crates at the two men who had entered the room, one muscular, the other fat with a moustache.

The mustached man looked around the room and shrugged, "We'll save enough for ourselves and our men, the rest can be burned, no one needs to know this food was ever here."

"But Mr. Minch…" The thinner man lost his words as the large man stared him down.

"Don't be a fool, if the people believe that Eagleland has sent the supplies they promised then they will continue to support a failing nation. Destroying these rations is the most effective way of convincing the people they are in need of a newer stronger government."

One of the boys couldn't help but almost growl after hearing such a remark. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand but the two men looked in their direction, "Did you hear something?"

"Maybe... the wind can make strange noises in here though," Frank looked over the tables but didn't see anything.

Wanting to be sure nothing was amiss, Mr. Minch walked across the storeroom looking down several dim aisles. The two boys huddled close behind a crate as they waited for the man to walk by. The footsteps stopped just beside them as Mr. Minch looked around the room.

"I don't see anything Mr. Minch," Frank called from another aisle.

Mr. Minch grunted, "Obviously not," the man walked away leaving the two boys to let out quiet sighs of relief.

"How do you want us to do this sir?" Frank asked once he was at Mr. Minch's side again.

"Oh…" Mr Minch looked around at the large room, "By the end of the week, get whatever remains onto wagons and dump it on the other side of Mt. Itoi. Burn it in the night and no one will be the wiser."

"Yes sir..." Frank and Mr. Minch finally left the room.

Immediately the two boys jumped up from behind the crate. In an excited motion, the first boy pulled his hood down revealing black hair, blue eyes, and a red ascot around his neck, "Holy shit Ness! We've gotta tell someone!"

The other boy lowered his hood as well, keeping his violet eyes trained on the door the two men had just disappeared through, "Yeah, but we gotta be careful too…"

"Come on, let's get outta here!" Without further warning, the excited boy picked up his bags and started running through the storeroom.

"Ninten! Don't make so much noise!" Ness scolded as he quickly followed.

Ninten opened a window and started climbing out, "It's okay, Mr. Minch and Frank went out the other side."

Ness climbed down after Ninten, "Yeah but that doesn't mean there aren't other... guards… around…" Ness dropped to the ground and noticed he and Ninten were surrounded by about eight of the Shark Guards.

Ninten chuckled to himself, "So guys… you see… the thing is…" The guards gave the boys menacing looks as they stepped closer. Ninten gulped and leaned closer to Ness, "Need a power up?"

Ness nodded, "Power up!"

Ninten put his hands against Ness's back as energy passed from him into Ness, "Power up!"

Ness grit his teeth as his hands began to crackle with lightning magic, "Thunder FLASH!" Light flashed and the crack of thunder echoed through the streets as Ness drove his hand forward. The light cleared revealing two of the guards were on the ground and singed while the boys were nowhere to be seen.

"That way!" One of the guards pointed and they all started running.

About five guards ran straight on as Ness and Ninten watched them run by from an alleyway. The two boys stepped out and laughed. Ninten pointed in the direction they ran off in, "I can't believe that worked! Ha, what a bunch of morons!"

The sound of a throat clearing caused the boy's eyes to snap open and brought their laughter to halt. They slowly looked back and saw a very large guard standing in front of the two guards who were still charred from Ness's lightning spell.

Quickly Ness pointed his hand at the large man, "Thunder!" Another loud crack of thunder filled the streets, but once the light settled, a pillar of dirt and rock stood between the boys and their attackers. The guard's hand gave off a faint yellow glow as he waved it from behind the wall causing it to collapse back to the ground.

"Earth Magic?" Ninten asked.

"Definitely Earth Magic," Ness confirmed.

"Run?" Ninten asked.

"Running," both boys turned and dashed as quickly as they could without dropping the bags of food they were carrying.

The guard grunted and stomped his foot hard on the ground. The yellow glow spread from his foot, past the two boys, then the ground in front of Ness and Ninten broke apart as a rock wall rose up effectively blocking their path.

Ninten tried to jump at the wall and climb to the top, but slid down the smooth surface, "This could have gone better…"

Ness turned around, ready to fight, "I sure wish you knew some offensive spells right about now."

"Hey, I'm a pacifist!" Ninten folded his arms and pouted.

"Then why are _you_ the one who keeps coming up with ideas that get us into trouble?!" Ness stood in front of Ninten protectively as the guards approached.

"There you guys are!" A new voice called from on top of the building to Ness's left. Immediately a look of relief came over both boys.

A boy slightly taller than Ness and Ninten with messy blue-black hair and icy blue eyes dropped from the building and stood between the boys and the guards.

"Rock!" Ness cheered.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Ninten demanded

"Sorry I overslept," Rock yawned and stretched, "I told you I didn't want to be up before dawn on a Saturday."

The guard cleared his throat to get the boy's attention, "Move over twerp unless you want to be taught a lesson for stealing along with your thieving friends."

"Who stole what now?" Rock looked over to Ness and Ninten who shrugged while holding the bags of produce up. Rock stood up to the guard not at all concerned that the man towered over his own stature, "You're really going to stand there and accuse my friends of stealing rations that you all stole from the people of this village in the first place?"

Ninten leaned closer to Ness, "How'd he know about that already?"

Ness sighed, "He's probably been following us and listening in for a while…"

"Creepy…" Ninten shivered.

Rock sweatdropped but shook it off, "I stand by my friends here, so if you want to get to them, you're going to have to go through me!"

"You'll regret that!" The three guards made their move and charged forward.

Rock ducked under the largest guard and slid under him with a leg sweep. While the guard was off balance, Rock shot up from between the man's legs legs with a jumping uppercut which sent the earth mage soaring past the two smaller shark finned guards.

One of the guards who had already been charred by Ness tried to jump Rock next. With quick reflexes, Rock sidestepped and placed his open palm against the man's back. Light built up in Rock's hand and once it was expelled the man was launched at incredible velocity into the wall of a nearby building. The last guard put up his hands and began to run away. He made it half a block down when a sharp metal disk whizzed by his face and embedded itself into the wall front of him. Rock stepped forward and pulled the blade back from the wall and stared at the guard, "They're going to ask you when you get back what you saw here today."

From behind, the oversized guard pushed himself back to his feet and started running towards Rock again.

"Look out!" Ness called out. A glow came over Rock's hand as the guard approached. With every leaping step the guard took, the light in Rock's hand became brighter until he turned around and pointed his hand at the guard's chest. Another beam of light, much larger than the last, impacted the guard and blew him off his feet. He screamed as he sailed through the air, over the top of the nearby buildings and out of site. The echoing sound of a far off thump the only signifier that the man must have eventually come back down.

The remaining guard shook his head rapidly, "Nothing! I didn't see 'nothin!"

Rock pulled his metal disk out from the wall by the man's head, "Good, you can go now." With a nervous nod, The Shark Guard ran off in a panic.

Ness ran up to Rock, "Thanks! That was awesome!"

Rock gave Ness a thumbs up, "Let's get out of here before more guards show up."

The three boys took back roads into town to avoid being spotted by any lingering search parties.

"So did you hear what they plan to do to all the food Rock?" Ninten began to rant at an overly excited pace, "They're going to burn all the food that's for the town and tell the town that no food ever came so that the people lose faith in Eagleland and then people are going to have to keep eating mush or go hungry and become angry, desperate, and willing to do something horrible and drastic unless we do something!"

Ness nodded, "Mr. Minch did say that, I can't believe he would do something like that. But if we told anyone about what we heard who would believe us?"

Rock looked down at the sacks the other two were carrying, "You've got quite a bit of fresh food there."

"Yeah, it was all we could get away with," Ninten showed off his two bags.

Rock grinned, "If people wouldn't believe us that Mr. Minch is going to burn all the food then we just won't tell them."

"What?!" Ninten immediately huffed as his emotions turned over.

Rock grinned as he reeled the boy back down, "Let's do this instead…"

The sun was finally visible in the early morning sky as people in Onett were leaving their homes and forming queues to the stores that had only dried meat and vegetable mush to sell. People were looking disheartened as they waited their turn to be given their portions of the tasteless slop.

"It's here! Everyone it's here!" People turned their heads as they saw three boys in tunics running down the street, "The food from Threed made it last night! It's at the southern warehouse!" Everyone in town lit up as they saw the boys carrying bags of fresh food and immediately a swarm of townsfolk made their way south toward the warehouse.

Rock watched the people go and smiled, "When the people get there en masse they'll be demanding to be let in to get some food. There will be no denying that the food made it now."

"But what about Mr. Minch?" Ninten demanded, "People still won't know that he planned to burn the food."

"Pick your battles Ninten," Rock patted him on the shoulder, "Today it was more important for everyone to eat than it was to topple a dishonest loan shark."

Ness nodded, "Yeah, you saw the looks on all their faces when they saw the food? We gotta do this one step at a time."

All three boys walked up to Ness's house and stepped inside. Ness's mother was preparing things in the kitchen, "Ness, Ninten? Where did you sneak off to this morning?"

Rock leaned into the kitchen and waved at Ness's mom, "Good morning ma'am."

Ness's mother smiled, "Oh, good morning Rock, were you with them too?"

Rock nodded, "Yes, I heard the food carriages from Threed bringing fresh food in last night, so I got Ness and Ninten up early so we could be first in line to get some of it."

"Good thinking!" Ness's mom smiled, "Is your father still out of town?"

Rock frowned for a moment but quickly righted himself, "Yes ma'am, he's on important business still."

Ness's mom smiled sadly at Rock, "Well let me make some breakfast for everyone then."

A weight lifted off Ness's shoulders as his earlier whereabouts were no longer a concern to his mother. "Thanks," Ness mouthed to Rock as he carried his bags into the kitchen.

"Kiss-ass," Ninten mouthed as he walked by Rock with his bags causing them both to giggle.

Ness's mom made a large meal while the boys put the rest of the food away. Three younger girls came running into the room when they smelled something good cooking, "Real food!"

Ness's mom looked sternly at the girls, "Now Tracy, we've been fortunate enough to have never gone without real food, and while we can be thankful that today we have better food than we have for the last week, don't forget to be grateful for having any food at all."

"Yes mom," Tracy gulped and turned to the other girls, "Umm Minnie, Mimmie, help me set the table."

On the other side of the room, the boys had gotten bored and started poking each other with vegetables that were being put away. Ninten jabbed a celery at Ness's face before putting it up. Ness retorted by poking Ninten with a carrot and putting it up. Ninten pulled out a potato and bopped in on Ness's head and put it away. Ness pulled out a beet and shoved it in Ninten's face causing Ninten to jump, "Not beets! I hate beets!"

"Ness!" Ness's mom called out, "stop tormenting your cousin!"

Ness grimaced, "He started it…"

Everyone went back to working for another minute and then Ninten pulled out a large carrot and started making lewd motions with it toward his mouth to make Ness laugh. Ness retaliated by grabbing a potato and rubbing his face against it suggestively. Rock picked out two peppers and pushed one into each of the other two's mouths quickly. Ness and Ninten started coughing from surprise and then the heat of the peppers kicked in and they started fanning their tongues.

Ness's mom shook her head and laughed, "You three really are like brothers with your antics."

Ness hopped from one foot to another while trying to take his mind off his burning tongue, "How come you yell at me but don't say anything to Rock for this?!"

Ness's mom grinned, "Because I know by the time Rock steps in, you two probably deserve it."

The two boys were panting to cool their tongues and glared daggers at Rock while Rock only scratched the back of his head and showed off a toothy grin.

The moment was broken as an annoying knock started rapping on the door to the beat of shave and a haircut.

Tracy looked to her cousins and sighed, "You know who that must be…"

"I'll get it," Ness ran to the front of the house and opened the door.

Two blond boys stood at the entryway. Neighbors from up the street, Pokey and Picky Minch, the sons of Mr. Minch. Pokey rubbed his chubby belly, "Heya neighbor! Something sure smells good in here!"

The thinner boy, Picky, waved more politely, "Hey Ness, sorry our dad came home a little while ago really upset about something and started yelling a whole bunch, we were hoping to maybe hang out until he calms down."

Ness had a pretty good idea what Mr. Minch was angry for and sympathized with the boys. He turned his head and called out, "Hey mom, would it be alright if Pokey and Picky joined us for breakfast?"

An audible groan came from everyone else in the kitchen, but Ness's mom very politely answered, "That's fine dear, food is ready so everyone needs to wash up."

Everyone made room at the table for the two extra guests while Rock and Tracy helped serve the food out.

Pokey looked down at the plate and smiled, "Thank you so much ma'am, you've really outdone yourself today, this looks and smells so delicious!"

"Just shut up and eat it…" Ninten grumbled barely loud enough for Pokey to hear him.

Pokey eyed Ninten from under his hair and smiled in a way that made the dark haired boy shiver.

Once breakfast was done everyone helped clean up, except for Pokey. Picky nudged at him to urge him on and whispered, "Come on, do something to help."

"Oh I would dearest brother," Pokey pointed to his leg, "But as you can see from the swelling I have twisted my ankle, best I rest it for a few more minutes."

Ninten grimaced again, "What a lazy ass…"

The last of the dishes were put away when Pokey hopped off his chair, apparently completely fine, "Hey Ness, you gotta come with Picky and me, we got something cool to show you!"

Ninten crossed his arms, "And what is this something cool exactly?"

Pokey put a hand up in front of Ninten, "Whoa! I don't remember inviting you pacifist boy, I only told Ness to come." The hand then turned to a pointing finger towards Rock, "And unless you can be more useful than a walking flashlight then we don't need you coming either."

Rock's eyes widened and his arms crossed. Ninten was too annoyed to take it as he groaned and left the room, "Good, 'cause I don't want to hang out with you anyway."

Pokey made a rude gesture with his finger and eye socket to Ninten's back before he grabbed onto Ness by the wrist, "Come on Ness, let's go."

Ness shrugged and grabbed his shoes, "What is it you want to show me anyway?

"You'll see!" Pokey looked excited about whatever it was.

Ness was almost dragged out the door when he looked back at Rock, "Oh hey, can we meet up at your house later?"

Rock smiled, "Definitely!"

Ness called back into the house, "Hey mom, is it okay if Ninten and I stay at Rock's house tonight?"

Ness's mom laughed, "Tired of a house full of girls are you? That's fine, we'll have another girl's night."

"Thank you!" Ness waved to Rock, "Then I'll see you later."

"Come on, hurry already!" Pokey pulled harder on Ness out the door and up the mountain trail. Ness knew the trail well, he'd been up here hundreds of times it seemed and wasn't sure what was so exciting that Pokey wanted to show him. The trek to the mountain summit usually took a few hours. They were near the top when Pokey turned off the path without warning and started pushing his way through the thick brush, "It's this way!"

Ness followed close to areas no one ever really went through because of the thick foliage, "Whatever's out here, how did you even find it?"

"Picky went running away like a little crybaby and found it first," Picky sighed at Pokey's comments but didn't try and defend himself.

The brush was dense, the boys kept having to push large branches out of their way and slip between intertwined brush. Ness slowed and brushed a hand against his forehead. Picky noticed first that Ness was falling behind, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I just feel kind of weird all of a sudden. Like… there's something close by… something important." Ness scanned the area around him, "I don't know how to describe it really."

"We're almost there, keep walking!" Pokey barked

After climbing up through gaps between boulders and a few steep crevices Pokey stopped, "Whoa, it wasn't doing that earlier…"

Ness climbed up behind Pokey, "What wasn't doing whaaaa...?" Ness gulped as he looked around Pokey and saw a boulder like stone, and embedded in it was a crystal that pulsed in a bright violet light.

The three boys kneeled around the boulder and stared for a moment. Picky broke the silence by asking, "Do you think it's some kind of magic?"

"It's giving off light so it must be magic," Pokey stated snarkily to his brother. He squinted his eyes as the light began to glow slightly brighter, "But I don't feel anything from it."

"You don't?" Ness looked almost shocked.

"Nu-uh, why? Do you?" Pokey's eye piqued as Ness was staring at the small crystal as if he were in some kind of trance. "You alright Ness?"

Ness nodded, "Yeah, but I definitely feel something… I think I… I think I've seen something like this before though."

Without any more thought, Ness reached for it. His fingers made contact with the embedded crystal and the light intensified further, washing the clearing in a bright violet light. Both Pokey and Picky jumped back from shock. The air had suddenly filled with static, and their hair was standing on its own.

Both Pokey and Picky rubbed at their eyes to try and clear the light that had etched itself into their cornea. Once they could focus again, they saw Ness standing by the boulder, the purple gem like crystal floated just an inch over his cupped hands.

"What is that?" Picky stared in awe as he got closer to take a look.

The moment was awe inspiring; the very atmosphere around the crystal shard gave off the smell of ozone, and the light was the kind of hypnotizingly majestic sort that commanded attention. The rest of the world quieted and darkened so that all focus could be had on this one artifact of vast importance. No one said anything for a moment until Pokey held out his hand, "Give it to me."

"...Huh?" Ness and Picky both looked at him oddly.

Pokey nodded, "I'm the one that brought you here, you wouldn't have known anything was here if it wasn't for me, that makes it mine."

Ness frowned and looked back down at the crystal shard, "I guess you're right, but there's something about it…"

Pokey reached out to take it but the shard gave off another bright glow as several more beams of lightning emanated from it, setting a few small fires to nearby bushes that it struck.

"Ahh!" Pokey yelled, "Stop that!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Ness tried to defend himself as he watched the crystal emit more lightning energy.

"I don't care, just make it stop!" Pokey yelled as he hopped over a bolt that nearly zapped his foot.

Ness focused on the crystal shard for a moment and the lightning assault ceased. Pokey and Picky caught their breaths but then held it as the bright violet light from the shard expanded and enveloped Ness's body completely. Pokey and Picky both fell to the ground as the light formed a pillar that shot to the heavens. There was a final earth shattering crack of thunder and then the light simply vanished.

Ness's eyes snapped open, his irises gave off the same purple light for a moment and then faded. At Ness's feet, a magic circle of lightning was burnt into the ground. Ness could feel energy flowing through his body, an electric tingling sensation coursed through every nerve and caused his breath to shudder involuntarily as he inhaled.

"Ness? What happened?" Picky tentatively stepped closer.

Ness still didn't have control returned to his breathing, "That was… wow…"

Though it was hard to make out, Pokey raised his eyebrows under his hair, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know…" Ness gulped as he tried to relax. The world around him suddenly looked and felt hyperreal. Every color was exaggerated to his eyes, every nearby sound was crisp, and he was overly aware of every sensation coursing through his body."

Pokey looked around at the clearing and the rune which was now etched into the ground, "Where did that crystal thing go?"

Picky finally shook the shock and disbelief from his head, "Didn't you see? It like… went _inside_ of Ness!"

"Well then can you take it out?" Pokey looked Ness all over again.

"I have no idea how it did…" Ness blushed slightly, "...everything that it did!"

Everyone was quiet as for several minutes as Ness seemed to need the silence to collect himself. Picky eventually spoke out, "I swear I've seen or read something like this before."

Curious, Ness pressed Picky on, "Where or what did you see?"

Picky thought harder to try and remember, "I'm almost positive I've seen a picture before, like in a mythology book, there was like this naked guy holding his hand out to a huge crystal in the sky."

"That does sound a little familiar actually…" Ness tried thinking as well.

"It should," Pokey's voice hit an accusatory pitch that caused both his brother and Ness to turn and watch his approach, "It's the tale of the Champions, the same ones didn't finish the dumb ceremony three years ago."

"Oh yeah!" Picky nodded, "The Champions are chosen every thousand years right? No one really knows what happened after the ceremony failed three years ago, no one has seen the Champions since, but the world didn't end or anything."

Pokey stepped closer to Ness, "Could this mean there's a new reason that you're _special_ Ness?" He wrapped an arm over Ness's shoulder, and immediately Ness leaned forward, his eyes shut, and shivered from the contact. "Ness? What's wrong?" Pokey's voice bled with false innocence.

"It feels…" Ness gulped, as he tried to reel in the sensations coursing through his body again, "I uhh…"

Pokey smirked from behind Ness as his hand continued to rub the boy's back, "It's fine, take all the time you need to get your brain sorted out, I'll be right here."

Ness shook his head and took in a deep breath to try and get control over himself, "I'm fine, thanks."

The sky had darkened above the tree canopy; distant thunder and a single sprinkle of rain spoke of a coming storm. Picky wasn't sure what was going on in front of him but looked up at the sky and took notice of the weather, "That changed fast, we should go back to town so we don't get rained on."

Ness immediately jumped back to his feet and shook himself off, "Yeah, let's get going!"

Picky followed after Ness and Pokey silently brought up the rear. No one noticed a dark look of realization that crossed the large boy's face.

Several minutes of hiking down the trail seemed to clear the oddness of the day from Picky's mind, or at least he began trying to get the others to get back to their rambunctious and teasing ways. Ness's thoughts however still remained scattered and jumbled as he tried to determine what had just happened to him with the limited information he had. He was still deep in the introspection when he stepped on a loose rock. "AHH!" Ness rolled off the hill side and took a shortcut down to the next crosspath thirty feet below.

Ness landed on his back with his legs still up the mountain side. Pokey leaned his head off the side, "Hey, you should be careful around here."

Ness twitched but the moment served to restore his demeanor, "Yeah, after I fall, thanks!"

The three made it back to town without further incident. "Do you think dad will be in a better mood when we get home?" Picky sounded nervous.

A look of sympathy came over Ness's face, "I'm sure he'll be better by now."

The three approached the Minch's house and noticed an unusual carriage parked in front. Guards wearing dark colors of a uniform they had never seen before stood by the equally darkly colored vehicle. The boys walked by it not giving it much thought and approached the door but it opened before they could knock. The atmosphere immediately iced over causing all three boys to take a startled step back as the door slammed open. A very tall man in a black coat with a sharply pointed mustache and arms that were as long as the boys were tall rushed out of the Minch's home, "...tables must be moved up. With the artifact finally detected in such close proximity of your town I'm sure my superiors will feel there is little other choice…"

Not one for tact, Pokey immediately asked, "Choice for what?" Pokey's father stood behind the tall man making violent motions with his hands at his son to shut up.

A monocled eye fell upon Pokey, "Oh, are these your boys?" The tall man leaned over and examined all three teenagers.

"The two on the left are, yes, the other is their… friend… I think…" Mr. Minch seemed exceptionally nervous.

Picky immediately shied away from the tall man, but Pokey put on his usual bravado by putting his hands on hips and stood cockily in place. The man laughed, "You've got some potential kid, keep that up." The man then looked over at Ness, "You though… what's your name?"

Ness narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything to the gangly tall man so Pokey answered for him, "His name is Ness, he lives next door."

"Ness…" the man grinned in a way that creeped Ness out, "There's something about you that we'll have to keep an eye on isn't there?"

"Gamgi Waluigi," A certain fear was laced in Mr. Minch's words as he regained the man's attention, "Please let your superiors know that I stand fully prepared to support them in any way possible."

"Indeed," Waluigi eyed the man carefully before he began to walk away, "I expect they will be eager to take action here most… immediately."

The boys watched the man enter the strange carriage in front of the house. The guards climbed aboard as well and the large horses began to pull the carriage away.

Mr. Minch watched the carriage carefully as it left, "Boys, I need you in the house, NOW!"

Both Pokey and Picky flinched but they obeyed and entered the house, "See ya Ness."

Ness nodded to the two of them and was about to leave, "Ness..." Mr. Minch spoke the boy's name in a low tone that caused his skin to crawl in dread.

Slowly Ness looked over his shoulder at the man who he had been hiding from just that morning, "Yes sir, Mr. Minch?"

"You will speak nothing of what you saw here to anyone, do you understand?!" Mr. Minch's voice left no room for interpretation in his instructions.

"Yes sir… not a word…" Ness tried to sound sincere enough for the man to let him go.

Mr. Minch waved him off so he ran back to town as quickly as he could.

Ness's tunnel vision was so bad as he ran towards Rock's house that he didn't even notice he ran past Rock and Ninten on the street, "YO! NESS!"

Finally Ness slid to a stop as he noticed his cousin and best friend waving at him, "Sorry guys, it's been a freaky afternoon."

Ninten's eye piqued, "Umm yeah? You were with Mr. Freaky himself."

Ness looked disapprovingly at Ninten, "We all know what kind of an asshat Mr. Minch is, he puts Pokey and Picky through just as much if not worse than he does to the town."

Ninten shrugged, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, at least in Pokey's case if you ask me."

"That doesn't matter right now, something's going on, we need to go talk!" Ness led the way back to Rock's house and made sure the door was locked before he sat down.

"So…" Ninten pressed while Rock leaned against the wall giving Ness his full attention.

"We went up to Mt. Itoi," Ness gave the others the details of his day. The expressions on their faces changed when he brought up the crystal shard, "After I touched it… well it just floated in my hands for a bit and Pokey tried to take it but it like zapped him or something. It gave off an even brighter light that shot to the sky and left all these weird marks on the ground. It disappeared after that, but I've felt like really… weird isn't the right word… I can't even describe it!"

"You sure you didn't fall off the trail and hit your head again?" Ninten had already noticed a bit of a lump on Ness's head when he got back.

"I'm serious this happened!" Ness defended.

Rock nodded, "There was a flash of light before the storm hit in the direction of Mt. Itoi today… It sounds like you found a really cool magical stone on the mountain and then it disappeared. Interesting…"

Ness nodded, "But that wasn't the end! We came down the mountain and went back to the Minch's house, and there were these people there. I've never seen anyone like them before, they looked like they were wearing military uniforms but definitely not Eagleland's."

Rock leaned forward, "Did you see or hear anything else?"

"Nothing that made a whole lot of sense," Ness thought carefully, "There was this guy named Gamgi, or Waloogy, or something like that, and he was visiting with Mr. Minch."

"A Gamgi…" Rock looked alarmed as he repeated the word and the other two waited for him to think.

"Do you know a Gamgi?" Ninten prodded first.

Rock shook his head, "I definitely don't know one, but from what I've heard Gamgi isn't a name, it's sort of a rank, kind of like a general in the army."

Curious as to who he might have seen, Ness asked, "Which army?"

Rock bit his lip as though he were still thinking, "From what I've heard from my father it's high ranking officer for a member of the Golden Empire."

"Golden?" Ninten chuckled, "What are they supposed to be really rich or something?"

Ness shrugged, "They sure didn't look very golden, their uniforms were mostly black."

"Yeah…" Rock tried to explain, "Most people don't seem to like the empire, they've been expanding a lot over the last two years, and supposedly they're called the golden empire because they spread wealth and prosperity, but people also say that's just a ruse to cover up something terrible."

"I know I didn't get a good vibe at all from their Gamgi then…" Ness shivered just thinking about him.

Rock took a few more moments to try and piece something together in his head, "Did he say anything that you overheard?"

"Something about…" Ness tried to recall the exact words, "'Tables must be moved,' and 'The artifact was detected,' and 'We have little other choice,' or... something like that. I know it had Mr. Minch looking frightened."

"If Mr. Minch was scared then maybe these guys aren't so bad," Ninten laughed.

Rock rested his chin on his hand as he thought. Ness noticed he wasn't saying anything, "What do you think Rock?"

"No idea…" Rock looked back up and smiled, "but I'm getting hungry, how about you guys?"

"Definitely!" Ninten cheered.

"Your mom sent some food with us for dinner," Rock pulled out a bag and set it on the table.

The boys ate, played games, had fun, and allowed themselves to forget about the day's drama. The old house lacked ventilation and had heated up from the afternoon sun and the fire the boys used to warm their supper. Shoes, socks, and overgarments were strewn about the room near the table the boys were playing at as the three assumed their guys night uniform of undershirts and small clothes. The games went on for a few hours when Ness slammed down the last seven cards from his hand and declared, "Rummy!"

"No way!" Ninten leaned over the table, "A seven card Rummy, you gotta be cheating!"

"Nope, it's legit!" Ness grinned with his eyes closed.

Ninten looked closer, "Wait… that's a six of clubs, not spades! You _are_ cheating!"

"Oh…" Ness looked down at the hand, "I guess it was…"

"Trying to trick us, this means war!" Ness barely had a chance to react as Ninten jumped from his seat and tackled him out of his chair.

Rock laughed as the two wrestled on the floor, rolling over each other trying to pin the other to the floor. It took him a moment to decide who to support but eventually dropped down and put Ness's legs in an arm lock. Ness's violet eyes opened wide as he felt Rock's fingers dance across the bottom of his bare feet, "AHH! NOO!" Ness couldn't keep himself from convulsing and laughing as Rock tickled his feet and Ninten kept him pinned to the ground.

As Ness pulled and kicked against the hands on him, the sensations from earlier returned and spread across every nerve ending in his body. Ness's eyes at first opened wide, and then closed tight as his breathing became quick and excited, "AHH!"

While in their underwear it was impossible to hide the effect this wave of hypersensitivity had on Ness. Ninten grinned to himself as he noticed, "You're not supposed to enjoy the punishment, how are we going to make sure you don't cheat again?"

Ness leaned back on the floor, his breath ragged again while the others kneeled over him. "Sorry, but this happened because of that magic gem thing too I swear! Since I touched it I've felt so…" Ness grinned slightly as he floated on a high of endorphins and the firing of unusual synapses.

Ninten giggled poked Ness in the side causing his breath to hitch, "I think you're just trying to find excuses for being horny all the time." Ness laughed and gasped as fingers poked him, "No use hiding it from me!"

Rock let go of Ness's legs, "I guess this means it's time for bed."

"Yeah!" Ninten hopped up to his feet and nearly dashed into Rock's room, his shirt randomly discarded as he entered.

Rock pulled Ness to his feet and whispered, "Seriously, are you okay?"

Ness smiled in a way that almost made him look drunk, "Great actually!"

Rock pushed him towards the bedroom before he blew out the candles and made sure all the drapes were shut. There was barely enough light coming from behind the curtains to see Rock pull the covers back on the bed and then he and Ness pulled off their shirts as well. Ninten immediately took the right side of the small bed as Rock and Ness fell onto the left.

Everything was quiet for a moment as the boys made themselves comfortable.

Ness sighed as he squirmed on the sheets. The feel of the material on his skin felt more _real_ than ever before. He was almost lost in the hypersensitivity of his sensations, but he was certainly enjoying it. He could hear his friends breathing, smell the faint musk of a boy's room, and as his eyes adjusted everything began to glow as he made out Ninten grinning to himself.

The look on Ninten's face left no room for doubt that he was about to blurt out something audacious, "I haven't gotten to jerk off in like three days."

"Pffft!" Both Ness and Rock couldn't help but laugh at how blunt Ninten could be.

"It's true, there's too many people living at home." Ninten grumbled slightly, "And don't lie like you don't need to Ness, we saw it!"

Ninten and Rock looked to Ness as he giggled to himself, "I swear it's the crystal doing it! But yeah, I really want to."

Ninten chuckled and the other two could feel his movements under the covers. With only dim moonlight filtering in through the window they could make out the sheet over Ninten's groin tented high and movement starting up and down.

Without any question, Ness and Rock followed suit. They lifted their butts enough to slide their underwear off and then kicked the garments from their legs. Ness gulped as he slid his right hand across his body. His skin felt so electrified, to his hand everything felt like silk, and his own hand left waves of pleasure everywhere it touched. The moment he grabbed onto his hard penis he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. It felt hot and hard, but also soft and smooth. The other two heard him and couldn't help but laugh a little, "What?" Ness demanded as if he was hurt by their reaction, "Like Ninten said… it's just kind of been a while."

"I said three days," Ninten chuckled, "That sigh was like three months worth!"

Ness ignored Ninten, his mind much more preoccupied with the unusually intense sensations he was feeling.

Rock grinned but focused on his own stroking. Rock pulled his hand out from under the sheet and held it up to his mouth as he spit into his palm and then reached back down. The sound of his self pleasing motions began to make wet popping sounds as his hand picked up speed.

Ninten mimicked Rock and spit on his hand for lubricant. Ness wasn't far behind as he did the same thing. Ninten started grunting and groaning as he stroked himself faster. The bed was lacking in space for all three of them which meant their hips and legs rubbed against each other as the mattress practically vibrated from their quick movements.

The dark room was filled with the sounds of wet slips, slight moans, hitched breaths, and wooden creaks from the bed frame as it tried to support the three bucking hips from on top of the thin mattress. The air held excitement as the three boys listened to each other masturbate; every time wandering eyes met in the darkness they would only laugh with each other.

Ninten was taking in air through exaggerated gasps. Before long even those were raspy as he his body reacted to the movement and pleasure by removing his ability to take in a smooth breath. Ninten's leg hooked around Rock's as he stopped stroking and leaned closer to whisper in a husky voice, "Will you jerk me off please?"

"Sure," Rock didn't say anything else as Ninten's left hand reached for Rock's right hand. He took Rock's hand and slowly guided it to his waiting penis. As Rock's fingers circled around it Ninten gave off another moan. Ninten twitched on the bed as Rock began to stroke his slick hardness.

Ness leaned up and looked over Rock. In the dark he could just make out Ninten's eyes squeezed shut and his chest rising and falling. Ninten was the thinnest of the three, and his small stomach was rising and falling due to both his breathing and bucking hips. The cover was just below Ninten's belly button where Rock's arm disappeared into and was moving rapidly up and down under the tent the sheet made over Ninten's nether regions. Ninten's hips bucked off the mattress every few strokes and Ness could make out his cousin's legs spreading and curling under the sheet.

Rock gasped as he felt a sudden jolt. Ness's hand glided across his left hip, under the cover, and snaked his way towards Rock's groin. Rock's mouth hung open as he watched Ness's hand closely. He couldn't quite pinpoint what was happening, but he could feel something in Ness's touch alone that was ecstatic, barely noticeable but excruciatingly pleasurable at the same time. Rock's entire body shuttered as Ness cupped his scrotum, "Oh gods, is this what you were...?"

Ness realized whatever he was feeling that he must have been sharing a bit of that with Rock. He slid Rock's foreskin down and back up the head allowing his finger to gently slide over the gland. Rock started breathing through his teeth as he squeezed Ninten gently and sped up the stroking he was doing to the other boy. Ness squeezed harder and stroked faster causing Rock to start bucking his hips as well.

Rock's left hand snaked its way across from his own belly to Ness's thigh giving him a slight squeeze before moving up. The touch on Ness's thigh sent a ripple through his body; he had to bite down hard to keep from moaning out like he did before. He felt the hand gently caress his right thigh and then it reached his balls. The fingers squeezed his balls gently, and Ness flexed his dick out of reflex and groaned.

"Oh!" Ninten squirmed and writhed more as Rock's right hand moved down to cup Ninten's balls as well. Ninten's left hand moved to find Rock's dick and met with Ness's hand that was still on it. A similar tingle flowed into Ninten through his contact with Ness's hand. In that instant he almost felt drunk as he giggled to himself and began to stroke Rock in tandem with Ness.

Ness actually slid himself closer to Rock so more of their side was touching as they touched each other. His thoughts weren't forming words any longer. The skin on skin contact from his torso down his right leg pushed his rational consciousness to the side. Rock could feel at as well as he wanted nothing more but to continue the movements which caused friction against Ness.

Ness's mind was screaming. This thing, this wonderful thing that was already leading him down a path of intense pleasure needed to reach that release. For some reason it was important, more so than any orgasm could ever be alone, he innately knew that he needed to cum and that it signified something much more important than he could comprehend in the moment. It was driving him mad; he hardly even noticed his own moaning as Rock began to stroke him.

"Oh… ohh… Oh!" Ninten couldn't help but look over Rock to see. Ness's upper body was completely exposed. He envied Ness for being more muscular than he was, and Rock was more muscular still but they were both really lean. Ness and Rock's arms were crossed much like his left arm was crossed with Rock's right. They were speeding up to the point that all of their bodies were nearly vibrating on the bed.

Feeling a little devious, Ninten used his free right arm to pull down gently on the sheet. The way the sheets were tented from their jerking motion made it easy to pull the sheet down a little bit, first exposing himself to the night air with Rock's hand still stroking him. He kept pulling slightly and pulled the sheet down from over Rock and then Ness.

Ness didn't even care about the removal of any modesty he might have had, though a sensation, a source of friction had been altered which he did notice and sought to replace it. He began to grind his body against Rock's left side harder. Overcome in the moment, Ness stared through the darkness at Rock's dick then his eyes shifted to Ninten's.

Ninten was curiously looking over the other two as well. Both Ness and Ninten looked up at almost the same time and caught each other looking, momentarily snapping Ness back into rational thought. Though they were both slightly embarrassed by how caught up they were in what they were doing, they quickly realized the other was just as into it. They grinned at each other and laughed off any awkwardness feeling instead a connection growing between them as they made themselves completely vulnerable to each other. Comparing what they had the boy's noticed Rock's equipment was the biggest between the three of them, it looked almost an inch longer and a little thicker than Ness's own. Ninten's was almost the same size as Ness's maybe just a little thinner, it was hard to tell in the dark.

Rock silently watched the moment play out between his friends, knowing well the silent conversation taking place and allowing it to run its course. He squeezed both their dicks to bring them back to the task at hand.

"Ahh!" Ninten's leg muscles locked which caused his hips to vibrate faster. Ness found his leg entwined with Rock's and the sides of their bodies rubbing against each other harder. Ness could also feel Ninten's hand tighten over his own which was still jerking Rock off.

Ninten's fingers clasped between Ness's, "I need you too for just a second." Ninten pulled Ness's hand off of Rock's penis and pulled it to his own. As he suspected, that electrifying touch Ness was somehow emanating came with his hand and sent a jolt of energy into his body through his penis, "That feels so good!"

Ness rolled onto his side so his far hand could return to touch Rock while his nearer hand continued to cup and stroke Ninten. Rock was being smothered between the two as Ninten held one hand from of each of his friends tight against his erection while his leg sought out contact with the leg Ness had draped over Rock's as well. Sweat gathered on Rock's brow as the skin grinding against his own electrified and overwhelmed his senses while Ness's left hand began stroking him faster.

"I'm gonna… I'm gonna!" Ninten bit his lip as he raised his hips much higher than before.

"Me too…" Rock breathed out hotly.

"Guys I…" Ness choked out as he neared his limit.

"I'm cumming!" Ninten went first, his sperm shot across his body, his first shots puddled near his neck while the last shots dribbled out near the base of his dick, "Ahh! Wow…"

Ninten's left hand gently gripped onto Rock's balls as he came and what felt like a sort of feedback flowed through the hand over Rock's penis. Ness's eyes opened wide, his breathing was uncontrollable, his heart was pounding furiously, "I'm!" Rock could see something big building inside of his best friend, "Oh yes! Oh yes!" A glow came over Ness's eyes, just enough to reflect a violet light off the ceiling as his body arched in orgasm. Each of Ness's spurts fired a different distance, first hitting his stomach, then launching all the way to his face, then back down. As the last dribble fell from Ness's dick, his eyes closed, and when they opened everything was normal again.

Rock felt in tune with the sensations crashing across Ness's body. The orgasmic energy flowed through Ness, down his arm, and directly into Rock's hard penis. There was nothing Rock could do to edge or stay off his orgasm as he closed his eyes as well and was washed over by a flood of sensation that seemed to pull him towards his friend, "I'm… I'm cumming!" Ninten watched as Rock's testicles tightened and semen exploded from his cock, landing on his chest with hushed splash sounds.

All three boys were drenched with sweat and out of breath. They looked at each other as if to confirm they were all in the same condition and then laughed. Ness pulled a cloth off the nightstand and wiped himself up real quick before passing it down the line. Rock examined the rag first, as if he expected it to glow from Ness's semen. It looked normal so he wiped up and passed it to Ninten who took the cloth and made a face, "You guys, ewww." They all laughed again as Ninten wiped up anyway.

The sheet was pulled back over them and they began to pass out almost immediately.

Not completely sure of what happened, Rock couldn't help but ask, "Are you okay Ness?"

"Yeah, I'm great!" Ness responded immediately with a sleepy smile.

"You sure?" Rock rubbed his hand along Ness's arm as if to test something.

Ness shrugged, "Yeah, everything feels a little more normal now… but better. It's hard to explain."

Rock nodded and yawned, "Say something though if anything changes… or if… you know… you need to do that again."

Ness giggled as he rolled to his side, "Definitely will need to do that again. Good night Ninten, good night Rock."

"Mmmph," Ninten responded as he was almost out already.

Rock's eyes closed as he found a spot to rest against both his friends, "Night you guys."

* * *

 ** **End Chapter****

I know I have a tendency to make very dark themed stories, and while this one may have a few dark moments I at least wanted to get things started on a bit of a light hearted note. Banter between Ness and Ninten felt like a good way to do that. And this is a yaoi, so the hot scene at the end of the chapter is just kind of a requirement.

Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think in the reviews and I'll respond on Tumblr.

'Til next time!


	3. A Shot of Crisis

Notes: So I've got another chapter this week. I'm kind of surprised myself but I really like this concept and want to know where this is going too! Things are going to start getting exciting in this chapter, so here we go!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Ness and Ninten are cousins living in Onett where the Baron Mr. Minch was about to burn whole stockpiles of food intended for the people of Onett in order lower public morale. Joined by their friend Rock the boys were able to expose the location of the food stock to the public. Mr. Minch's sons then appeared at Ness's doorstep in an attempt to escape their father's rampage and took Ness to an unusual site near the top of Mt. Itoi where a strange purple crystal fragment imbedded itself into Ness's body. Unsure what to make of it, Ness returned to Rock's home where the three boys spent the night together.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 2: A Shot of Crisis****

* * *

Rain fell over Onett throughout the night. The patter of thousands of water drops kept most people sound asleep and dreaming pleasant dreams. The distant booms of thunder rolled over the town like a soft lullaby.

Some of the residents who were still awake stared off at nothing in the cloudy sky. A few of the residents squinted their eyes for a moment, convinced some kind of shadow was moving through the clouds; perhaps their eyes were playing tricks on them.

In Rock's house, three boys remained huddled close and sound asleep. A distant boom caused Rock to stir. His eyes slowly opened as his senses began to register both Ness and Ninten still pressed up against him. Something felt off but without any evidence he took in a deep breath, relaxed, and closed his eyes again. The sound of an explosion immediately jolted all three awake.

"Was that thunder?!" Ninten asked while catching his breath from the rude awakening.

"That didn't sound like thunder…" Rock jumped over Ness and looked out the window. The glow of fire was visible just a street down. Several more booms echoed in the sky before more buildings exploded.

Ness and Ninten covered their ears as the sounds of the explosions were close. "Is Onett being attacked?" Ness asked as he ran over to take a look.

Rock dragged Ness away from the window, "Get dressed, hurry!"

Screams and the sounds of panicked running clattered just outside the window. Another explosion rang out and shattered the glass letting a searing heat enter the house.

"We gotta get outta here! Come on!" Rock pushed Ness and Ninten out of the house as they shoved their feet into shoes.

Outside, rain was still falling and the light of the burning village reflected off the clouds.

There were no signs of invaders, but a cannonball landed close enough to see it. The metal sphere embedded itself in the dirt and the began to glow before it erupted into fire and molten metal, igniting buildings around it into flames.

Ninten put his hands against his head and began to panic like many of the nearby people. "This can't be happening… not again… Please, this can't be happening!"

Ness took Ninten's hand and held him still for a moment to keep him calm but was feeling just as anxious as he watched fires spreading across his home town.

Rock looked up at the rain and pointed, "There!"

The others looked up, but at first didn't see anything. Then from within the clouds there was movement, almost too obscured by the storm to notice. More explosions then rang out as a group of airships slowly descended over Onett. Atop the lead airship the boys could see a behemoth of a man with fire red hair wearing a horned helmet. At the man's side was a dark skinned boy with the tattoo of a star on his face who raised his hands. Immediately everyone in Onett clutched their ears as screeching sound waves spread through the town.

"Attention citizens of Onett," As the behemoth man spoke his voice was carried along with the sound waves so everyone could hear him, "Your village is now within the borders of The Golden Empire, there will be _NO_ resistance, we require only your unconditional obedience and you will be rewarded with fair lives and adequate resources."

Cannonballs stopped falling for the moment as the airships simply circled over the town.

Ninten gripped his fists tight and anger washed him, "We can't just let these guys fly in and take over our town!"

"Come on," Rock ran in the direction of the city center where most other people were going.

Ness brushed some water from his hair and looked ahead, "Why is everyone going in this direction?"

Rock bit his lip, "...It might be to prepare a resistance."

Most of the town had gathered in the town center. A few buildings were still burning, but the combination of the rain and a few volunteers had the fires under control.

The people gathered were scared and angry. The airships floating overhead were most definitely built for war, and Onett had very little in the ways of defense against such a force.

Mr. Minch stepped through the crowd and climbed onto a platform to speak to the citizens. Before he was even up people were shouting, "Where are the city guards?" "Put the shark guards to work doing something useful for once!" "Aren't you going to do anything?!"

Mr. Minch put his hands out to shush the crowd, "Everyone! Please! Tonight has turned into a state of crisis and we all have reason to be concerned, but I implore everyone to remain calm!" The people stopped their shouting to hear what Mr. Minch had to say, "Up in the sky, Onett is surrounded by Doomships, a caliber of airship that makes the most advanced airship of Eagleland's military seem little more than a child's toy. Eagleland has fallen into debt and recession in recent years and can no longer to afford to protect its people from external threats. The Golden Empire can! By submitting to the empire we still have the opportunity to secure our future and our children's future!" The people quieted as the took in Mr. Minch's words. The sounds of submitting to the empire echoed through the crowd.

Ninten grit his teeth, almost growling, and ran forward. Ness held a hand out to his cousin but wasn't sure what was going on. Ninten climbed up another platform and started yelling over the crowd, "Don't be fooled! You all already know you can't believe anything that man tells you! He's lied and cheated almost all of you already and only ever looks after himself! This is Onett and if this _golden_ empire thinks it can use our town to launch a war into Eagleland then it's up to us to tell them the war starts here!"

"You better step down you insolent brat! You're not even from Onett!" Mr. Minch spat out angrily before turning back to the crowd, "Standing up against the empire's forces will do nothing more than get this entire town destroyed!"

The people gathered looked torn, it was obvious they had no desire to fight, but giving up their town to the empire wasn't something they wanted either.

"I know there's a lot at stake," Ninten started again, "But this empire charged into our town with guns blazing, setting our homes on fire, no talk, no diplomacy, they're using fear and threats hoping to get us to step aside, and I don't like bullies who get their way using fear and threats. Sound familiar Mr. Minch?"

Mr. Minch was fuming at Ninten's words, "I am ordering all of you to surrender to The Golden Empire! If you do not listen to me then I assure you that you will regret it!"

Ness and Rock climbed up to stand beside Ninten. Their resolute posture as they stood in the rain proved to provide more inspiration to the people than Mr. Minch's steaming performance.

"What do we do?" A person in the crowd finally shouted up to the boys.

Ninten was not free from fear as he looked up at the massive airships. Though he had the people's attention, he was unsure what could be done against such powerful invaders.

"We use what we can, and we drive them back!" Rock put a hand on Ninten's shoulder, "Those of you who know some magic need to get ready to use it, those of you who have weapons or tools capable of defending yourselves need to get them right now!" The three boys raised an arm and many of the townspeople did as well to show their solidarity before finding weapons.

The people dispersing could be seen from the airship in the sky and it slowly made its descent over the town square. "Are you ready to swear fealty to the empire?" The man shouted down once he was close enough.

Mr. Minch looked terrified as his teeth rattled and he backed away from his platform. The behemoth man noticed Mr. Minch's strange actions and wondered for a moment what was happening.

"Let's see if just maybe we can bring that ship down to the ground," Ninten psyched up with Ness, "Think you hit the main propeller shaft?"

Ness nodded back, "I can hit it, I just don't know how much damage I can do."

"Power up?" Ninten grinned.

Ness smiled and gave a thumbs up.

Ninten stood behind Ness and pressed his hands on Ness's back and pushed his own energy to amplify Ness's, "POWER UP!"

Something Ness had never felt before came over him. The sky above them began to crackle with static as a sensation within him began to build like something warm and bright. It was more than warm, it was hot, and it was overflowing.

Ness pointed his hand out in the direction of the airship's propeller shaft. The behemoth man noticed the boy on the ground giving off a glow, "What is he…"

"THUNDER!" An enormous bolt of lightning shot from Ness's hand, eclipsing any spell he'd ever used before. Even Rock jumped from the platform and took cover as as the light and sound blew out every window that faced the town center.

The man on the airship barely ducked in time as the massive bolt of energy tore past and ripped all three masts of his great ship. The branches of the bolt were enough to singe the deck and set anything flammable on fire.

The burning airship immediately plummeted to the ground like a stone. The ship crashed onto a building and flipped onto its side before it slid to a stop. The man behemoth clung tightly to the railing of his ship and dropped to the ground once everything settled, "Who the hell did that… Fox?"

Static bolts still lit up the area all around Ness. Ninten slowly poked his head over Ness's shoulder, "Holy shit Ness!"

Ness breathed deeply as his eyes remained staring at the airship his lightning bolt had brought down, "How did…"

Rock crawled out from under the platform. He could still see the trail Ness's bolt had made as nearby objects were melted and glowing hot. Rock whistled, "Wow!"

The people of Onett were silent for a moment, but soon erupted in cheers.

Ninten poked Ness's shoulder, "Think you can do that again?"

"I don't know, but let's try!" Ninten nodded and pumped more energy through Ness's back. Ness picked the next closest airship and fired another impressive lightning bolt at it. The crackling lightning tore through the hull of the ship and snapped the main propeller shaft causing it to spin out of control.

The behemoth man saw another of his ships go down and growled lowly, "Morton!"

The teenage boy with the star tattoo pushed himself up from the rubble and returned to the man's side, "I'm sorry Uncle Bowser."

Bowser growled at the boy, "Project my voice to the fleet! Now!" Morton concentrated and radiated sound waves back up to the sky as Bowser spoke, "All ships descend, we're taking this fight to the ground!"

Another lightning bolt went off and another ship made a crash landing. Bowser grit his teeth as he dragged Morton into an upright position, "Find my sword!"

The airships began to lower past the building line along the outskirts of Onett. Ness looked from side to side for a target, "They've gone too low, I can't hit them anymore."

"You took down five ships! That's freakin awesome!" Ninten as well as many of the townspeople cheered.

Rock gave Ness a proud pat on the shoulder, "In the air they had the advantage, on the ground we should have superior numbers. Now we just have to hunt them down and chase them out."

As the three boys made the charge down the side streets of Onett a crowd gathered behind them with what weapons they could find.

Ninten shook his head, "How did you shoot off lightning bolts that big? Have you always been able to do that?"

Ness shook his head, "No way, I thought maybe it was you who gave me a bigger power up than normal?"

"I don't think so," Ninten scratched his head, "I'm pretty sure I gave you the same power up I gave you yesterday."

The group turned a street corner and could see a group of armored warriors at the other side. The soldiers facing them wore solid suits of armor covering their whole bodies like shells. The soldiers charged the townsfolk carrying weapons like war hammers and spiked bucklers.

"We'll have to figure it out later," Rock stopped the conversation.

"Let's give'em another one," Ness charged his lightning magic in his hand while Ninten gave him another power up. "Thunder!" Ness lit up the street with lightning magic. The wave of oncoming enemy soldiers had no time to take cover as the electricity blew them all away.

Both Ness and Ninten were looking out of breath. Rock patted the two, "You guys are doing awesome, but you're not used to expending this amount of magic so quickly, be careful."

Ness nodded, "I'll be fine."

"And if he's fine then so am I!" Ninten kept his bravado high but was starting to wheeze as though his bronchial tubes were closing.

Rock gave Ninten an extra pat and Ness's eyes widened as he noticed it too, "Ninten! Your asthma!"

Ninten brushed them off as he struggled to remain calm, "I'll be fine, don't worry."

More enemy soldiers charged from around another street corner.

"We'll hold them off!" One of the townsfolk with a sword charged in followed by many of the others. Weapons clashed on the street; swords, spears, and pitchforks met hammers and armor.

Another squad of enemies came around from behind threatening to surround the group, "We can't let them get too close!" Ninten placed his hands again on Ness's back and strained to pump more power into his cousin, "Power up!"

Ness brought his hands forward and launched another powerful bolt, "Thunder!"

The street was cleared of approaching enemies, but both boys were starting to get really tired.

"Take a rest you guys," Rock urged them, "you can help again once you're feeling better."

Ness nodded as he took Ninten to the end of the street where they could take cover. Rock stayed near in case anything happened.

Rock's ears picked up the sound of something charging. He looked from left to right and didn't see anything, but there were definitely the sounds of heavy footsteps running, and getting closer, "You guys, get ready to move…" Rock lowered his stance to ready himself for whatever might come from around the corner.

Rock focused on the road and steeled himself for whatever giant thing was coming his way. Rather than charge in from ahead, the wall next to Rock collapsed as something enormous plowed through it. Rock barely had time to pull out his metal disks and block a gigantic sword that came down over his head. An excruciating weight pushed down on Rock as the gigantic Bowser himself held the sword that was slowly crushing its way past Rock's defenses.

Rock grit his teeth as he leaned backwards with Bowser's weight on top of him. He could feel Bowser's hot breath on his face. His palms began to sting as the center ring of his own metal blades dug into his hands while he pushed up against Bowser's sword. Knowing he couldn't push Bowser back he kicked off the street and rolled out of the way of the attack losing one of his blades in the process.

"Rock!" Ness got up and started channeling more magic to his hand.

"So nimble," Bowser grinned as he swung again. The blade of bowser's sword looked as though it extended out of the maw of a demon carved into the hilt. A streak of red heat was left with every swing of Bowser's tempered blade.

Despite Bowser's large size, it was hard to get a clear shot at the man where Ness could be sure Rock wasn't in the way with all the jumping around each other the two of them were doing.

Rock flipped himself over another swing of Bowser's sword and grabbed onto his dropped metal blade in the dodge. While he gripped his metal blades from the center rings he began to swing them like melee weapons as well as guard against Bowser's sword, but the force of Bowser's swings still knocked him back each time. Rock jumped completely over Bowser's head expelling three light blasts as he did directly into Bowser's face.

Bowser shook off the spells, "You're a light mage? HA! Give up before you embarrass yourself!" Bowser held the sword up and the entire city block began heating up.

The center of the hilt of Bowser's sword began to give off a great red light as the heat intensified. Ness's eye widened at the site of something familiar attached near the guard of Bowser's sword, "That looks like the crystal I saw yesterday, but it's red."

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Bowser laughed maniacally as everything around him became consumed in violent flames. Ness's eyes widened as he realized he was in range of the massive fire spell, but something else ran into him and tackled him down as the shockwave of fire flooded over him.

Ness felt dehydrated from the heat wave that hit him. He put a hand against his forehead and shook it off as he tried to stand but finally noticed Rock's weight on top him, "Rock?" He looked over Rock's back and could see Rock's clothes had been burnt through and his back was hit by the fire spell, "Rock!"

Bowser continued to laugh, "Not often you see a light mage who actually tries putting up a fight, stupid boy!"

Ness grit his teeth as he stood up, "Ninten, can you heal Rock?"

Ninten ducked down to take a look at Rock's burns, "Yeah I think so."

"Then do it while I do something about this guy…" Ness lowered himself into a fighting stance and once he had Bowser's attention started circling around to move his focus away from his friends.

Ninten looked worried but put his hands against Rock's back, "Alpha Healing!"

Bowser shook his head at Ness, "You've got guts kid, but if you don't stop this game then they're gonna end up spilled all over the street."

Ness picked up Rock's metal blade from the ground and tried to look ready for a fight. Bowser swung at the boy and while Ness jumped out of the way he threw too much force in his jump. Bowser swung sideways to chop at the boy before he regained his footing. Ness tried to block the sword with the metal blade the way rock had, but when the sword hit the blade he felt his wrist snap backwards and he dropped the blade.

Bowser held his sword back to strike Ness down "I've had enough of playing with kids today."

Ness reached into his pocket with his good hand and pulled out a wooden yoyo which he swung out hard. The toy rode up Bowser's face, successfully knocking the behemoth man back a few steps.

A menacing growl escaped Bowser's throat, "You're making me mad kid."

"Sparking!" Ness pointed a finger at Bowser and let another lightning bolt loose. Bowser shielded himself with his sword, but the electricity flowing through the metal object and caused his reflexes to drop the weapon.

On the other side of the street, Ninten had Rock back on his feet. The older boy tossed aside his burnt shirt and the two ran to Ness's side, "Let's finish this!" With a nod from Ness, Ninten put his hands at Ness's back again, "POWER UP!"

Bowser recognized an insane amount of electricity building up in Ness's hand as his face paled, "How does this kid have these kind of powers?"

Ness's eyes gave off a bright violet glow as he held his hands over his head, "THUNDER!" Ness threw his hand forward and released a lightning bolt that once again shattered windows and blinded everyone around.

The light faded and the spots in everyone's eyes began to recede as well. Ninten blinked and looked at where Bowser should have been, but saw instead a different man, this one well dressed in a suit with an "R" patched onto his jacket, and in his hand he was holding another elaborate sword. At the center of the sword's hilt was a yellow gem that was glowing brightly.

Bowser breathed out a sigh of relief, "Was wondering when you were going to show up Giovanni." Bowser recovered his sword and pushed himself to his feet and stood beside his ally, "With your earth magic we can say goodbye to lightning magic having any affect on us here!"

Giovanni grinned, "It's always best to use the element your opponent is weak to against them." Giovanni tapped his yellow sword against the ground and a crack formed along the street which quickly snaked its way towards Ness where a pillar of stone burst from the ground and bashed him in the face. "Such is the art of being Super Effective in battle."

Ness knew a powerful earth mage could easily turn the tables on him.

"Ness," Ninten sounded worried, "Lightning spells can't get through earth defense magic, what are we gonna do?"

Ness clenched his fist tight, "We have to try anyway…"

Ninten's worried expression lifted and he nodded, "Right, one more time!"

Giovanni squinted his eyes, "What are those brats…"

"Power up!" Ninten pumped the last of his energy into Ness as Ness concentrated as hard as he could on conjuring his biggest lightning bolt yet.

"Sometimes you just gotta push through head on!" Lightning came striking down from the sky into Ness's upturned palms. The lightning began to form a ball of energy over Ness's head that was growing larger. "THUNDER!" Ness threw both hands forward and unleashed a bolt of lightning that immediately evaporated the falling raindrops.

"Tsk," Giovanni held his sword forward, "Child's pla…" the bolt hit Giovanni's sword and the man found himself having to concentrate on his defense. His boots slid along the the ground as he was pushed back. Bowser's eyes widened as he stood behind Giovanni and braced him against the lightning bolt.

Both Giovanni and Bowser were pushed back by the force of the lightning blast. The stone pathway beneath them was melting from the force. Giovanni couldn't even hear Bowser's shouts over the crack of thunder. Once he realized his defense was failing, Giovanni reached back and put a hand on Bowser's shoulder, "Stone skin!" Both Bowser and Giovanni turned to stone as the lightning penetrated Giovanni's defense and washed over them.

Ness and Ninten fell to their knees. They were panting as though they'd sprinted miles. They looked up and saw the statues Giovanni and Bowser had turned into.

Ness swallowed hard while trying to take in enough air to speak, "What happened?"

Ninten wheezed as deeply as he could to recover his breath and shook his head as looked up at the statues as well, "We won?"

Rock stepped forward and poked at the statue. He noticed the gem in Giovanni's sword was still glowing brightly, "It's a defense spell, it's going to wear off soon and they're going to be mad."

Ninten clutched at his shirt, as he tried to breathe again, "We put everything in that spell!"

Rock nodded as he turned and helped Ness and Ninten to their feet, "Yeah it was awesome! But we're going to need more help to deal with these guys, come on!"

With Rock's help Ness and Ninten were on their feet and moving, but it was obvious they were both exhausted. They made it back to the town square where more residents had gathered with weapons.

"Everyone! Trouble is coming, we need to know right now what abilities we have amongst us." Rock started trying to organize the crowd, "Please raise your hand if you can use magic!" A few tentative hands raised in the crowd, "Great! And out of those we specifically need water and wind mages!" Most of the hands lowered leaving just a few people with their hands risen, "Alright, now listen, in just a moment two very powerful magic users are going to be coming from around that corner, the big guy uses fire and the guy in the suit uses earth. You need to focus your spells on the one you're strong against. These guys have some powerful magic, but together you can cast powerful spells too!"

One of the men stepped forward, "What's wrong with the kid with the lightning?"

Rock shook his head, "He's just tired, casting spells that powerful took a lot out of him as I'm sure you can understand. They've been doing a lot and need your help!"

The people nodded understanding.

Ninten leaned on Ness, he was doing his best not to wheeze and control his breathing, "I'm scared Ness…"

"I know," Ness wrapped his arm around Ninten's shoulder, "I'm scared too."

Ninten looked around and saw the scared looks on everyone's face. He gulped down his emotion and tried to stand on his own, "I have to do more."

Rock put a hand on Ninten's shoulder, "You need to rest a bit more or you're going to collapse."

Ninten smiled at his friends but pushed himself up past them, "I want… I want to show everyone what we can really do!" People were turning and noticing the boy standing up and moving forward, "I lost one home already, my parents, my town. I love this place now, my cousin Ness and his family who took my sisters and me in. That's why I was always so angry when Mr. Minch did things behind people's back to hurt them. How could someone do that to the people who were so nice to take in refugees from Podunk Town after it burnt to the ground? I may not have any spells that hurt people, but I'm going to do everything I can to protect this home, protect Onett!"

Tears were building in Ness's eyes as he smiled at Ninten. He knew the boy had been through a lot and was proud that it hadn't come close to crushing Ninten's spirit. And the people were behind Ninten too, everyone who looked scared before was looking more determined to protect their village.

The people were looking ready to fight along with Ninten when the boy stopped cheering. His eyes widened and immediately Ness could tell something was wrong. Ninten's hand went to his neck. He pulled something from his neck and looked down at what appeared to be some kind of dart. Ninten's eyes clouded over and he fell to the ground. As Ninten fell to the ground Ness saw Pokey standing behind him, a blow gun in his hand.

Ness's mouth went dry as he pushed himself to his feet and ran to Ninten's side. Both Ness and Rock dropped beside Ninten and started shaking him, "Ninten, Ninten! Please! Get up!"

Rock lowered his ear to Ninten's mouth, "He's not breathing…" Rock started pushing on Ninten's chest to keep airflow going.

Ness was quivering as he looked up and saw a wicked grin plastered on Pokey's face, "WHY?! Why would you do this?!"

A horrible sound washed over everyone in the town square causing them to drop to their knees except for Pokey. Ness covered his ears but looked up and saw the dark skinned boy with the star tattoo step out into the clearing with Gamgi Waluigi behind him. The two moved over to Pokey's side, "I knew you would make the right choice boy," Waluigi patted Pokey on the back as he took the blowgun back from him.

"What choice was it really?" Ness was still clutching his head from the pain the noise had caused as Pokey approached him, "Don't you see you'd be better off without him?"

Ness's mouth hung open in shock, "What the hell are you talking about?!"

"He was always causing us trouble, remember when you and I used to spend so much time together?" Pokey took advantage of the paralyzing sound waves and ran his hand across Ness's face, "Once he came to Onett... all of that stopped. He was changing you! Tricked you into seeing things the wrong way. He's been a nuisance to you and me and everyone."

Ness's jaw quivered, "Pokey… You were my friend, I always stood up for you! Whenever anyone..."

"And you're my best friend Ness!" Pokey smiled from behind his messy blond hair, "I want you to always be my best friend… and more!"

Ness shook his head in shock, "I don't… how could you do this?"

"Try and understand," Pokey's hand finally moved away from Ness's face, "The Golden Empire has promised to take care of all of us which is a lot better than anything your deadbeat dad has ever done for you. Don't let Ninten spoil your future, you have potential, stay with me! They've promised that I can choose whoever I want to work at my side and that's you. And one day when I'm in charge you could be my general, my _Gamgi_!"

Ness's fist shook as rage turned his vision red, "No… Never…"

Everyone was too distracted by the boys and their own aching heads to notice Bowser and Giovanni enter the town square until it was too late, "Looks like we didn't even have to fight the brats after all, they take themselves out if you leave them alone long enough." Bowser laughed sinisterly. The people nearby continued to clutch at their ears as they tried to step away from the threatening figure.

Giovanni tapped his sword against the ground and the very soil opened up around the feet feet of nearly every person in the square and ensnared every weapon around in stone pillars. Voices rang out in panic as the people lost their hope of winning this fight.

Time seemed to slow as people screamed in terror. Most people in the square abandoned their weapons and tried to stumble away from the battle. All Rock could hear was his own breathing echoing in his ears as he looked back and forth between the lost people, Ness as he was struggled with his emotions, the villains who slowly approached them, and Ninten who laid unconscious on the ground unable to breathe.

Ness was still only focused on Pokey and he took several slow steps forward, his anger apparent in the atmosphere as static bolts were discharging all around him. He was close to overflowing again when Rock placed a hand on his shoulder and he clearly heard a whisper in his ear say, "Close your eyes."

Though Ness wasn't sure what was going on, he listened to Rock and hurriedly clenched his eyes shut.

Rock held his hand up to his forehead, "FLASH!"

Screams filled the town square as a brilliant light flashed from Rock's hand and blinded everyone who stood out in the open. No one could move while the light stung their eyes, it was as if for that moment the light froze them in time.

"Let's go!" Ness could barely make out Rock's shadow as he carried Ninten away from the Town Square.

"Where are we going?!" Ness demanded.

"Home," Rock ran as fast as he could with Ninten in his arms towards Ness's house on the north side of town.

"We can't just run away!" Ness demanded still full of emotion.

"Ninten is dying!" Rock shouted ending Ness's argument immediately. "There's nothing else we can do for the townspeople now. One powerful enemy we could have stood up against, two we would have done our best. We're not ready for this and now Ninten is hurt and we can't help him and fight off an army at the same time!"

Ness cursed under his breath knowing Rock was right. The two practically knocked the door down to Ness's house once they made it.

"Boys!" Ness's mother ran into the room and looked as though she were about to say something and ask questions until she noticed Ninten in Rock's arms.

"He's not breathing!" Rock spoke with urgency as he set Ninten down on a seat.

"I've got frankincense," Ness's mother ran to the kitchen and shuffled loudly through a few cupboards before running back with a bottle of oil. Rock opened up Ninten's shirt as Ness's mother hurriedly rubbed the vapor oil under Ninten's nose and over his chest. Rock started compressing Ninten's chest again and blew into his mouth to get his lungs to keep working.

Ness watched scared from the front of the room. Rock looked over his shoulder, "Ness, you need to shock him."

Understanding Ness ran up and put his hand against Ninten's chest, "I've never done this before."

"You can do this sweetie," Ness's mother encouraged him, "Just be gentle."

Ness nodded as he focused on Ninten, "Spark!" A jolt flowed through Ness and into his cousin causing the boy's body to jump in place and immediately Ninten started coughing.

"You did it!" Rock cheered as Ninten began breathing normally again.

Ness waited a moment but noticed Ninten wasn't stirring. He started shaking him again, "Why won't he wake up?"

Rock pulled Ness back, "He was still poisoned, there's no telling what kind of an effect that's going to have or for how long."

"Poisoned?" Ness's mother shook her head, "How?"

"Pokey…" Ness growled, "He turned on us and hit Ninten with a poisoned dart."

The woman looked to Rock who nodded, "And out there?"

"The Golden Empire," Rock explained, "They're attacking the town and claiming it for the empire… we… tried to stand up to them but they're strong."

Ness's mother closed her eyes and nodded as the depth of the situation sunk in. She looked to the side and noticed the three younger girls in the doorway watching expectantly, "The Minch's are helping the empire, and they saw you boys making a stand against them…" She got up and shook her head, "That makes this house the next place they'll search to find you, you both need to run!"

Ness's eyes widened, "Run? We can't just leave, what about all of you and Ninten?"

"I'm so sorry sweetie, I will do everything I can for Ninten, but I can't let the empire take you," Ness's mother held him close as it began to sink into Ness's head what his mother was saying.

"No… I… I have power! Today, I found out I have a lot more power with lightning than I ever thought I had before! I took down five of the empire's airships, I can protect all of you!" Though Ness's words were strong, the quaking in his voice came out almost as though he were pleading.

"Power? Five airships? What…" Ness's mother looked at him closely. "You were able to…" She closed her eyes and put her forehead against her son's as if to feel something, "...It chose _you_ …"

"It _chose_ me?" Ness shook his head not able to make sense out of his mother's words.

Ness's mother looked over at Rock and saw his eyes were clenched tight and his head downcast, "Of course, you came to be his guardian didn't you?"

"Mom… I don't…" Ness was almost in tears himself not understanding anything.

"It's okay dear," Ness's mother hugged him again, "You are so very special, but not just to me, you are important to this entire world, and that's why you can't stay here and get yourself captured by the empire. Go with Rock."

"I…" Nothing was making sense to Ness in the moment, "I don't understand…"

"Go!" Ness's mom pushed him back to urge him to run. The look of fear and anxiety was still apparent on Ness's face, "I'll do everything I can to keep our family safe so don't worry." She then looked sternly to Rock, "You'll protect him."

"With my life," Rock agreed.

Ness's mother sighed as she stepped back and wrapped her arms around the girls, "Don't go through town, go up to the mountain, there's a cave. Half way up the mountain go off the main path towards the spring, but turn north and you'll find a way."

Rock smiled and nodded as he grabbed onto Ness's arm, "Let's go!"

Tears were streaking Ness's face as he was being dragged out from his home, knowing he was being dragged away from his family, away from his life and everything he'd ever known, "I love you!"

"And I love you son," Ness's mother held back her own tears as she clung to the girls tight as the door closed behind the two boys, "With all my heart."

Rock and Ness headed north past the edge of town and up the mountain. The sky seemed to acknowledge the end of the battle by opening and allowing the rain to pour freely. Ness and Rock quickly became drenched by the downpour; the mud made it hard to move, the sheets of water made it difficult to see.

"Stay close!" Rock called as they ran through the brush.

Ness stopped once they reached the hillside looking over the town. From the vantage point Ness could see the glow of Onett as parts of it still burned.

Rock turned around and grabbed Ness's hand "We'll get stronger, and then we'll come back!" Ness gulped down his emotions, "We'll come back and we'll save everyone in Onett."

"We will," Ness immediately resolved, "We'll save everyone."

The two followed the directions Ness's mother had given them and found their way past the spring and were up against the cliffside. The mud became deeper and the two found themselves almost wading through it as they searched for a cave opening.

Rock used his magic to create a beam of light to help them see. He passed over a thick brush and was able to see the rock wall behind it opened up, "There!" The two ran to it and pushed just enough of the overgrowth aside so they could crawl into the cave.

Immediately the two leaned against the rockwall to catch their breath. Once their lungs stopped burning they started getting cold as they were still drenched from the rain and covered in damp mud. Rock looked around, "We can't start a fire, that'd be a dead giveaway for where we are."

"How deep does this cave go?" Ness got up and looked towards the back as Rock shined another light deeper inside.

The cave was large and extended a good ways back. Ness began walking deeper. "Be careful!" Rock called out to him.

Ness shook his head, "Do you hear that?"

"Huh?" Rock listed but didn't hear anything.

"That melody, I feel like I've heard it before…" Ness continued following the song he heard.

Rock followed close, keeping the light pointed forward. The cave extended at least a thousand feet into the mountain. "The melody's getting louder over here!" Ness ran ahead and turned down a bend. Rock was close behind and when he shined the light down the next tunnel the two boys saw what looked like a gigantic sea shell at the end of it.

"What's that?" The awe in Ness's voice was apparent as he approached the light colored shell.

"I'm not sure…" Rock took a closer look as well.

"It looks like you can crawl inside it," Ness walked up to the opening in the shell but was stopped as a voice spoke in both their heads.

" _To pass you must answer this question, who has lost his tail?"_

Rock scratched his head finding the disembodied voice slightly ominous, "Who has lost his tail? That's a little vague huh?"

Ness's face scrunched in thought, "But it sounds familiar…" He thought back trying to pinpoint where he'd heard it before. Suddenly his face lit up, "My mom, she used to tell me these bedtime stories. And the one who lost his tail was the forgotten one of the ship that sails the cosmos."

As Ness finished his words the opening on the shell emitted a beam of light which enveloped the two boys and they felt themselves being pulled in. Ness grabbed onto Rock as his vision went white and he could no longer see or hear anything.

* * *

 ** **End Chapter****

Thanks for reading another chapter! I felt for a while that this chapter was getting really Ninten-centric, but it kind of had to since we won't be seeing the poor guy again for a while. I hope the action sequences were cool and that the magic concept is working out. Please let me know what you think in a review or on one of my social media channels! I'll try and reply to all reviews on my Tumblr.

'Til next time!


	4. Find Your Way

Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Ness, Ninten, and Rock were woken violently from their sleep as Onett was attacked by Doomships. The three boys helped launch a counteroffensive against their attackers despite Mr. Minch urging the people to surrender to the Golden Empire. Ness discovered his powers had greatly increased since the last time he used them, and with Ninten's help to boost them further he was able to blast several warships out of the sky. Once the ships were grounded the boys found themselves in a battle with both Bowser, the Dark King of Fire, and Giovanni, the Dark Proprietor of Earth.

Hope remained throughout the fight as Ninten helped rally the people to fight alongside them. Jealous of Ness's attention toward Ninten, Pokey poisoned Ninten and effectively pulled all three boys from the fight. Ness's mother swore to do what she could to take care of Ninten and urged Ness and Rock to run before the empire came for them. Though troubled by the concept of leaving home, Ness ran with Rock to the mountains to get as far away from Onett as they could. They found a cave previously unknown to them, and within that cave was a gigantic seashell which asked them the question, "Who has lost his tail?" Ness remembered a bedtime story his mother used to tell him from long ago and replied, "The forgotten one of the ship that sails the cosmos." With those words, the shell opened for the two and pulled them inside.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 3: Find Your Way****

* * *

Ness groaned as his eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times taking in a blurry shot of a strange landscape. Realizing he was someplace unfamiliar his eyes shot open and he pushed himself up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming and then looked around again.

The ground around Ness was a light violet, almost pink, and surrounding him were dozens of sea shell like spiral caves. Giant carrots and tomatoes were growing out of the ground, each one much bigger than he was. The sky above was purple, but was slowly cycling between green, red, yellow, and blue as well.

"You're awake!" Rock's voice called from behind Ness.

Excited, Ness spun around, but quickly his eyes widened and a slight blush spread across his face, "Rock! Why are you naked?!"

"I don't know, but so are you," Ness had to check to be sure and saw Rock wasn't lying. He quickly tried to cover up with his hands while Rock chuckled a bit, "You're fine, it's not like we haven't seen each other before."

Ness nodded slowly but was still blushing. Not too far off now he could see people standing by some of the shell like caves, "What about those people over there?"

Rock shook his head, "I checked it out when I woke up and I don't think they're real."

Ness finally started loosening up and moved his hands away from covering his private area, "What do you mean they're not real?"

"Come on," Rock started walking towards what looked like a settlement, "Everyone here is someone we know from Onett, but when you try to talk to them they each just have a sentence or two that they'll keep repeating over and over."

Ness followed Rock but had no concept of direction in a place that seemed to be ambiently lit from all around. Rock led them to a large spiral shell off a peninsula surrounded by what looked like it could have been water, but had an equal chance of being grape juice.

The duo stepped inside and immediately Ness's hands shot to his groin again as he saw his mother, sister, Ninten, and Ninten's sisters standing inside.

Rock laughed, "It's okay, like I said, it's not really them, I think they're illusions of some kind."

Ness nodded but kept himself covered, "Why would there be illusions of my family here though?"

Rock hummed to himself, "I'm not sure…"

Out of curiosity Ness stepped closer to what appeared to be his mother, "Mom…?"

The figure of his mother slowly looked at him, "Ness honey, you should really get some rest."

"Huh?" Ness tilted his head in confusion.

"Ness honey, you should really get some rest." The figure repeated.

It was eerie seeing and hearing something that was so much like his mom but very obviously not. Ness gulped as he relaxed again and lowered his hands again while he looked around what was trying to be a replica of his living room but inside a spiral shell. He tapped on the figure of his sister next, "I left your stuff in your room." It seemed odd so he tapped on her again, "I left your stuff in your room."

Rock stood over by Ninten and poked him so Ness could hear, "We're going to go on an adventure!" Ness stepped over and poked Ninten again, "Don't worry so much, it'll be fun!"

Ness looked down sadly, "I sure hope the real Ninten is alright…"

"Me too, but I'm sure your mom will keep him safe," Rock assured him.

"So what are we supposed to do here?" Ness huffed feeling frustrated by the strange place.

Rock shook his head, "We need to get out of here, we know we were on the Onett side of Mt. Itoi when we found the cave, maybe there's an exit that we can find going somewhere else."

"Let's hurry and find it then," Ness built up a little bravado and marched out of the shell house.

Rock couldn't help but chuckle as he followed Ness out.

"What's so funny?" Ness asked in a stern voice.

Unphased, Rock kept grinning, "It's just hard to take you seriously with your butt leading the way."

Ness blushed again, then looked upset, but finally settled on seeing the humor of the situation and grinned back, "Maybe we should walk side by side so we don't have to deal with that problem."

"Sounds like a plan," Rock gave Ness a thumbs up as the two naked boys trekked deeper into the strange land.

Up ahead was a hill the two ran up to the top of in order to take a better look around, "Are we on some kind of an island?"

The area appeared huge, and mostly flat, but there did seem to be some kind of purple ocean surrounding the landscape at its edge. Rock bit his lip as he strained his eyes to see as far ahead as he could, "It's hard to tell what's on the other side of the… ummm… buildings."

"But there's no wall," Ness sighed, "This isn't like a cave at all, how are we going to get out of here?"

Rock noticed the colors swapping sky darken a few hues. His forehead scrunched as he looked thoughtful over the change, "The town looks pretty big, so we may have to explore a bit. I'm sure there's a way out though."

Ness didn't say anything else as he and Rock approached the town of sea shells. An old man with a long beard dressed in a grey robe stood outside the entrance to the town. He stared back in the direction the boys came from but made no motions as they approached.

"Does he look familiar to you?" Rock asked as he examined the man.

Ness shook his head, "Not really…"

Rock reached forward and poked the man, "Welcome to Magicant!" The man said enthusiastically. He looked down at Ness, "A world _you_ created."

Ness gulped, "Me?"

The man didn't say anything else. Rock poked him again, "Welcome to Magicant! A world _you_ created."

Ness made an audible gulp sound, "What does he mean by that?"

Rock looked up at the sky again and hummed. "Let's check out the town."

The people of the town weren't frozen in place, they swayed from side to side as if to give them some bit of liveliness, but none of them paid either of the boys any mind or did anything unless they were directly spoken to or poked.

"This is really weird," Ness said out loud as he walked down a street lined with shops. All of the store keepers were people he had seen at least in passing in Onett at some point, mostly from walking through the real grocer street.

A stand of dried jerky caught Rock's eye as he reached in and grabbed one, "That will be twenty five cents."

Rock blinked as he held onto the jerky, "I don't have any money." The shopkeeper didn't make any other response. Rock reached in and grabbed another piece of jerky.

"That will be twenty five cents," the shopkeeper said again.

Rock shrugged and handed the jerky to Ness. "Isn't that stealing?"

Rock took a bite out of the jerky he kept for himself, "I still think this whole place is an illusion, so what are they going to do, arrest me for stealing something that doesn't really exist?"

With a wry smile Ness replied, "You could still get thrown into an imaginary prison."

"Oooo," Rock made a sarcastically shocked expression and took another bite, "I'm so scared!"

Ness smiled and looked down at the jerky he was given, "If it doesn't exist though then how would this keep us from being hungry."

"You'd be surprised," Rock pushed at Ness's hand encouraging him to eat, "as long as your brain actually thinks you've eaten then you shouldn't have to worry about fatigue and hunger for a long time."

The two sat down and started chewing their jerky. Both boys looked down the intersection of paths they stopped at and calmly took in the familiar faces. Ness finished his jerky first and let out a small burp. He rubbed his stomach and realized he did feel like he had eaten something. He looked up at Rock again, "You've always been so smart, how do you know so much about everything?"

Rock's eyes widened as he finished his jerky. He looked at Ness for a moment and his mouth hung open as if he was having a hard time thinking about the question, "My dad I guess… He's… a really smart guy."

"You've talked about your dad before but I've never met him," Ness wondered out loud.

Rock smiled and rubbed Ness's knee before standing up, "He's always busy like yours, so that's why he's always out of town."

Ness's eyes widened as a thought occurred to him, "Won't he be freaked out when he finds out what happened in Onett and goes back there and can't find you?"

A laugh was not the reaction Ness was expecting, "Don't worry about it, somehow I get the feeling he was expecting everything that's happened so far."

"What? Is he psychic or something?" Ness was legitimately curious now.

"He's just…" Rock closed his eyes and tilted his head up, "really smart and can figure out what's going to happen next… Even if he's not so good at figuring out people…"

A strange look had come over Rock, one that Ness didn't recognize on him or know how to deal with, "Is that…"

"But right now we gotta get back to figuring out how we're going to get out of here," Rock immediately switched back to a determined appearance and looked around again.

Ness stood up and was about to wipe his hands on what would have been his pants, but realized he wasn't wearing any in time, so just shook them and brushed the salt off instead, "What should we even be looking for?"

"Something out of the ordinary would be nice, but that's everything here," Rock rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. "For now, let's keep exploring, I'm sure we can find some kind of clue that will help us figure this out."

"Alright, then let's keep looking," Ness followed Rock as they weaved through different parts of the seashell town. They found many people Ness recognized including a local band that played around town, and even different kids Ness played sports and games with. Most everyone who they came across would speak about their ideas and the things they wanted to do.

"One day we'll fix our wagon and we'll be able to play our music all over the country." One of the musicians continued to say.

"This new sport will be like kicking the ball, but instead you hit the ball with a stick!" A boy declared excitedly.

Ness noticed that Rock was starting to look a little nervous as they spoke to different people and that made him anxious as well, "Rock, it's been hours, if this doesn't work then what should we do?"

Rock stopped and turned to face Ness. He didn't show any real emotion as he asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"I don't know!" Ness nearly shouted, "I've never been through anything like this before!"

"And you think I have?" Rock crossed his arms.

"Well… no…" Ness scratched his head as he thought, "But you always know what to do about stuff…"

"I'm good at making people think that, but really it's not true," Rock bit his lip as he looked down and noticed the area darkening again.

Ness's lip quivered slightly, "But if you don't know what's going on, we could be stuck here! Forever!"

Rock put his hands on Ness's shoulders to calm him down a little, "Don't think like that, there are a lot of things that I can miss that you need to be looking for."

Violet eyes closed as Ness let out a deep sigh, "Okay, I'll keep looking."

With slight smiles both boys continued their search through paths and shops and other shell homes. Ness pointed at a shell on top of a hill, "I don't think we've checked out that one yet."

"Nope," Rock shook his head, "we don't know what's in there yet."

Ness led the way up the hill and ducked inside the large shell house. Inside was another living room replication, and sitting around the house was Pokey and his brother Picky. Ness gulped as he saw them. At first it looked as though he didn't want to know what they had to say and was about to leave, but curiosity got the better of him as he almost begrudgingly walked over to the pair.

Just like every other resident of Magicant, Pokey just slightly swayed from side to side as Ness approached. Ness was barely reaching out when Pokey began to talk, "Things were great around here back when you used to listen to me, we were best friends and I wanted it to stay that way forever." Pokey's head turned to look at Ness, "You had to start causing trouble and then ruin everything. Had you listened to me, everything would have been alright and nothing bad would have happened to Onett." Ness began to quiver as the Pokey illusion spoke accusingly at him.

Even Rock took a few steps closer growing concerned over how animate this Pokey was, "Ness…"

The Pokey continued to rant, "We both know the truth, that if you just listened to me then your family and everyone would still be happy and normal. Had you listened to me then Ninten never would have gotten hurt."

Ness backed away, though he couldn't look away from the accusing eyes of the Pokey illusion which were just barely visible under the mop of hair.

"Ness, no," Rock reached out to Ness but the younger boy turned and bolted from the house, "Ness!"

Quick on his heals, Rock gave chase out of Pokey's shell house. Once outside though he couldn't help but notice a very apparent change in the environment, it was now night. Rock gulped nervously as he calmed himself down and continued to follow Ness.

Ness ran to the edge of the island. He sat and pulled his knees to his chest before burying his face in them. Rock saw where Ness ended up and stopped. He took a moment to sigh and compose himself. He slowly and calmly walked over to where Ness was and sat beside him.

The two remained still and silent for a few minutes.

"What am I even doing here?" Ness finally whispered.

"We had to get you away," Rock leaned forward so he could speak softly and still be heard clearly.

"I shouldn't have left them," Ness sniffed, "That was my family, my home! And I just… I ruined it all…"

"No…" Rock wrapped his arm around Ness's shoulder, "You can't blame yourself when bad things happen. I'm sorry too that things had to change so... drastically. But in no way was this anyone's fault besides the ones who attacked us."

"I should be there with them Rock," Ness shook his head into his knees, "Tracy has to be so scared, and my mom… I should be with them, not out here… I wanna be home!"

Rock nodded in understanding, "You've never left home before, I get it, you're homesick." Ness curled up tighter so Rock gripped him tighter as well, "There's nothing wrong with missing home. I won't lie to you, it's probably going to be a long time before we get to see Onett again, but we have to keep going forward now."

"Why?!" Ness's head finally shot up from his knees, "Where are we even going to go?! Onett was all I had, there's no where else out there that I can even go! I'm just some kid from a small town, I don't have special skills, I don't know how to go out there and… and… fight off an army! What am I supposed to do?!"

A crack of thunder indicated a storm was building in the distance.

Rock cupped Ness's cheek with his free hand, "We're in this together okay? We're going to take it one day at a time. We're going to find a way out of here and then see what comes next, and you know what? When we find it then we'll deal with that too!"

Ness turned his head to look away from Rock again, "For how long?"

"As long as it takes!" Rock smiled enthusiastically hoping to pick Ness's spirit up some.

The violet eyed boy cracked the smallest bit of a smile, "Why are you trying so hard for me? You're always the one who gets things done, who isn't afraid. Wouldn't it be easier for you to just leave me behind and take care of yourself?"

Rock's face fell for a moment, "There's no way I could abandon you, ever. You're my best friend and I will _always_ do everything I can to keep you safe." Ness stopped pouting and leaned his head against Rock's shoulder, "And besides, if you'd stop to think about it a bit you'd realize that you have much more potential to make it out here than you're giving yourself credit for."

Violet eyes rolled up to look at Rock's icy blue ones, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember what you did to those airships?!" Rock started laughing which caused Ness to chuckle as well, "You pointed a finger at them and just brought them down like nothing! And those were big badass empire warships!"

A full smile finally appeared on Ness's face, "I guess I did do that."

Rock felt Ness sink further into his side as he continued to run his hand along Ness's back and shoulder, "It was incredible, and that more than anything inspired the people of Onett to make a stand. You have the power to make a difference, so now we need to go out there and make that difference Ness."

"I really don't think I did that much...!" Ness leaned away from Rock as light began to shine from over the horizon again, "But thank you, I don't know what I would do if you weren't here with me."

The two shared a tender moment, but Rock decided he couldn't let things be overly serious, "Was it the soft caresses or all the sweet talking that got you all hot this time?"

"Huh?" Ness leaned back, confused by what Rock was asking him. He noticed Rock pointing down with his eyes, looked himself, and quickly jumped back with wide eyes and a blush, "It's not my fault! It was that crystal that made me all sensitive!" The embarrassment quickly faded though as he realized he wasn't the only one dealing with a similar predicament, "Though at least I'm not the only one…"

Rock put his hands on his hips and stood unabashedly, "That I cannot deny!"

Both Ness and Rock laughed at themselves, and immediately the mood lightened. "OK," Ness slowly calmed his laughter and looked much better than he had a few minutes prior. The two stood in front of each other for a bit longer. "What do we do now?"

The two boys stood facing each other in contemplation. Rock put a hand to his chin, "Well, we could… AH!" Rock was interrupted as something crashed into his side and he was flung into the purple water.

Rock quickly surfaced and gasped for air and both he and Ness stared at the strange black rabbit like creature who had pushed him.

The creature hopped animatedly from one foot to another, "What is…"

Rock started climbing out of the purple fluid, "It's a spriggan…"

"A… what?" Naming the creature didn't help Ness at all.

"A spirit of mischief," Rock took a step closer, "But what's it doing here?"

The spriggan cackled with only a split second warning before it jump kicked Rock again into the purple ocean.

Once again Rock quickly surfaced for breath, "This stuff tastes weird!" he started pulling himself out as the fuzzy creature quickly hopped away. Ness helped pull Rock back up as Rock kept an eye on his assailant, "Hurry! We should see where it goes!"

Rock shook himself dry before the two boys ran through the seashell town hot on the heels of the spriggan who jumped him. The two slid around corners, desperate to not lose site of the only thing that had made any significant movement over the last few hours.

The two were almost sprinting for several minutes as they weaved through town. The spriggan hopped toward a dark red strip of land that twisted out over the water and continued on. Both Ness and Rock finally had to stop to catch their breath. They watched as the deep fog settled in over the reddened area.

"That's new…" Rock admitted through deep breaths.

Ness nodded, "We might be getting somewhere."

A house was situated near the division of areas with what appeared to be a graveyard next to it. Rock pointed at the cross, "Haven't seen anything like that around here before."

Ness looked slightly nervous, "Should we knock or just go in?"

Rock shrugged so the two of them pushed the door open. Inside the house, a group of five muscular feathered men with beaks looked up from various activities including reading magazines and lifting weights.

Both Ness and Rock blinked a few times, looked at each other to judge how unusual the sight was to the other, and then turned back to the room. Ness finally broke the awkward silence, "Umm… hi."

"Good morning," one of them replied politely in a clear masculine voice causing both boys to look slightly shocked, "Are you two in need of assistance?"

"Well… maybe?" Ness answered unsure of what was going on. The two entered the room and immediately the bird men jumped in excitement.

"They're in need of assistance!" All of the bird men dropped what they were doing and ran to the front of the room. Four of the bird men struck elaborate poses while the fifth looked disinterested off to the side. Together they all cried out, "We are the flying men!"

They quickly broke formation and huddled together, "What do you think they need?" One of them asked.

"Could be anything, the poor naked things have no feathers…" rang out from another beak.

One looked closely at Ness, "I've got it! The skinny one needs to build up some manly muscles!"

"Actually we…" Ness tried to explain but was interrupted as a feathered arm was put around his shoulder.

"Come right this way young lord! Right this way!" Ness found himself being dragged to a weight machine.

"No really I…" Ness was pushed onto the bench as the bird man moved Ness's hands to the barbell.

"The first step is to breathe, loosen up, now you're ready! I will spot you! Ready!" Rock scratched his head as he looked around the room at the strange creatures who seemed friendly enough.

"Really I don't need to…" Ness tried stop but the flying man was pulling the barbell over the support and into Ness's grip, "WHOA! Heavy! Heavy! Heavy!"

"That's the only way you're going to get stronger and build those manly muscles young lord!" The flying man helped Ness lift the weights up and down, "Once you're sweating and heart is thumping you know it's working!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump! Sweat! Sweat! Sweat!" Chanted most of the flying men except the uninterested one who went back to his magazine.

Rock couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he watched the flying men fuss over Ness. Ness gave Rock a distressed look which didn't help Rock feel any more sympathetic.

"Keep going, don't quit now, how are you gonna achieve your dream body if you don't work for it?" The flying man encouraged as he continued spotting Ness.

"Dream huh…" Rock rubbed his chin as he looked around.

After several sets, the barbell was finally put back on the support bracket. Ness popped up and started rubbing his arms, "Holy crap, that was heavy!"

"You'll feel stronger for it soon though!" A flying man flexed in front of him, "Strong! Tough! Courageous! Determined!"

Another flying man stood by Ness, "What else can we help you with today young lord?"

Quickly Ness responded, "We're just trying to get out of here! Can you tell us where to go and how to get back to… the normal world?"

All of the flying men looked at each for a moment and then all at once burst out laughing, "Well young lord, we can show you the way, but the how is up to you!"

"Okay…" Ness replied feeling confused.

One of the flying men stepped forward, "The road ahead is dangerous though, I will accompany you and be your courage."

"Umm… Thanks... I think," Ness held out a hand in gratitude. They shook hands as Ness introduced himself, "I'm Ness."

"Frank," The flying man replied.

Another flying man stepped forward, "And I will be your determination." Ness shook that flying man's hand as well, "Pirkle."

Ness scratched his head wondering why the Flying Men sounded familiar, "Alright then let's go."

Rock stood at the back of the room with his arms crossed and grin on his face, "Made some new friends?"

Ness nodded, "Yeah, they're cool." Ness waited a second to see if Rock would say anything else, but the stupid grin never left Rock's face. He only shrugged as he turned and started walking away.

The two left the flying men's home with Frank and Pirkle following close behind them. The fog hadn't lifted at all from the narrow red path which stood just barely above the purple sea. The boys looked to each other to be sure the other was ready before they set foot onto the red ground. The red path was mushy beneath their feet as if it were soaked through by the purple ocean, "Eww…" Ness grumbled as he kicked some of it off.

"That's not gonna do you any good," Rock pointed out as he sloshed forward.

Ness frowned but continued to trudge through the muck with the others. Inside the fog it was hard to see more than ten feet in front of them, just enough to know the red path was continuing albeit remaining narrow.

After a short time, a chill went down Ness's spine causing him to exaggeratingly shiver.

Noticing Ness's reaction Rock quietly asked, "What's up?"

Ness shook his head, "I dunno, I just suddenly got a weird feeling, like we're being watched or something…"

Rock stopped walking and focused his gaze into the fog. There didn't seem to be anything ahead of them.

"It's probably nothing," Ness admitted.

Rock stopped Ness from continuing on, "No listen."

Ness waited a few seconds, "I don't hear anything…"

Rock nodded, "Even the wind stopped…"

The flying men also seemed to be on guard.

Rock took a few cautious steps forward, but nothing seemed to be in front of them. A pair of disembodied eyes opened in the mist just beside the trail, "I see you…"

"Crap!" Startled, Ness jumped away from the eyes which floating ominously over the purple ocean

All four took a defensive stance and waited to see what the eyes would do.

"A true self can never be obtained so long as one seeks their acceptance in the eyes of others," Frank blurted out of nowhere.

Light began to shine from the pupils of the eyes, and once it reached a blinding intensity a lightning bolt shot out towards the group. Ness hopped backwards and almost fell into the purple ocean but Rock managed to grab onto his arm, "If that thing's using lightning then the last place you want to be is under water."

Ness nodded and secured his footing, "What do we do?!"

"It's trying to kill us right?" Rock assumed an aggressive stance.

"Yeah?" Ness still felt confused as he watched and waited.

Light energy gathered in Rock's hand, "So we take it out first!"

"Oh…" Ness gulped, his hand went to his side with two fingers pointing out away from his body as electrical sparks formed at his fingertips.

"COURAGE!" Frank jumped at the eyes, his hand curled into a tight fist as he drove it into faceless gazer.

The eyes closed for a moment as if trying to shake off this hit. When they opened again, they stared at Frank and electrical energy began building up in the pupils again, "I see you!"

Rock jumped in the way, "Not so fast!" He held up his hand which gave off a bright light directly in front of the floating eyes. Stunned, the eyes reeled back from the bright light. Rock turned to Ness, "Do it!"

Ness brought his glowing hand forward and pointed it at the floating eyes, "Thunder!" lightning clapped from Ness's hand in a deafening roar and struck the stunned eyes. The electricity caused the eyes to snap open wide before they caught fire and disintegrated into nothingness.

"You got it!" Rock cheered.

"Yes!" Ness beamed, obviously pleased with himself.

Rock patted Ness on the back, "Good thing magic still works here huh?"

Ness looked worried for a moment, "I didn't even think about testing it before trying it…"

"That's probably why it worked," Rock beamed much to Ness's bewilderment.

Ness gave Rock an odd look but Rock didn't seem to notice as they turned to continue on. Almost immediately in front of them however they found a disembodied set of lips. The giant lips formed a kissing motion and approached Ness but he jumped back and out of the way before the lips could claim him.

"Well, there were eyes, so I suppose a mouth had to be somewhere," Rock tried making light of the situation while Ness stared at the lips in disgust.

"A heart cannot be fulfilled without opening itself to the affections of others," Pirkle's odd comment provoked another odd glance from Ness before Ness blasted the lips away, not giving them a chance to try and kiss anyone else.

"You okay?" Rock checked to make sure.

"I'm fine, that was just gross," Ness shook as a chill overtook him but then started walking again.

The four continued on through the thick mist. Knowing for sure there were enemies lurking about kept the group silent as they listened for any approaching noises.

Ness hopped forward and put a hand on Rock's shoulder to stop him. The group came to a halt and listened to what sounded like rocks tumbling.

"What's…" Ness tried listening harder as the sound got closer.

All four prepared themselves for whatever was coming. Rock lowered his stance slightly, "It's rolling… but skipping…"

From out of the fog a huge six sided dice rolled into view. It stopped in front of the group with the six pointed up.

"The cheat is a betrayer of trust and destroyer of friendships, one must always uphold honor and valor," Pirkle spoke without being prompted.

The top of the dice opened and a head popped out as well as arms at the side.

"Oh…" Rock nodded to himself, "It's a loaded dice."

The strange dice man pulled out a horn and blew into it. Immediately another dice came rolling in through the fog, also landing on the six, and formed a second dice man.

"Once one gives into the temptation, the path to fall prey to it again only becomes simpler and more enticing," Frank added.

"Well then…" Rock shook his head, "Let's get rid of them before they call anymore friends!"

Pirkle leapt forward first at the dice on the left, "DETERMINATION!" His fist collided with the flat surface of the three side and knocked rolled the dice back a bit.

The other dice leapt forward with a stick and thumped Frank in the knee.

"Hey!" Ness put his hand against the dice that hit Frank," THUNDER!" The strong bolt blasted the dice far off the stretch of mushy ground and into the fog.

Rock rushed in against the remaining dice. It tried to swing at him with another stick but Rock ducked out of the way and got underneath its cubed body. He got his hands on the flat underside of the dice and lifted it up in the air over his head. With a simple motion he tossed it off the path and into the purple sea where it floundered a bit before it sank and didn't return.

"This place is turning out to be really weird…" Ness couldn't help but voice as the group returned to walking down the wet path.

Rock agreed, "Yeah, but hopefully we're almost through this."

The group crept forward again; it was merely a waiting game now to see what sort of challenge would come at them next. The trail continued on and all four continued to walk for what could have easily been over an hour.

Ness couldn't help but sigh, "I haven't seen anything interesting for a while…"

Rock stopped walking and laughed, "We're in a place like this and you say you haven't seen anything interesting? What about that weird sphere just floating in the air over there, or those crystal columns jetting out from the water over there?"

Ness waved Rock off, "We've seen a bunch of those here already, I mean something different than what we've been seeing for the last hour."

"I know, it just sounded funny," Rock grinned and looked forward again, "It is a little boring just walking in a straight line that doesn't seem to be leading us anyw…"

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!" A sharp cry startled both boys into jumping forward.

"Pirkle!" Ness shouted as he saw the flying man had been struck from behind by what looked like a model of molecules in a roughly human formation.

"Second hand knowledge," Frank spoke enigmatically again, "when learning without experience, one should be prepared to be proven wrong."

Pirkle's body writhed on the ground for a moment before he stopped moving and simply faded away into nothingness.

Ness looked back and forth from where Pirkle had been lying on the ground to the molecule man, "I don't understand what's going on!"

"You can figure this out," Rock encouraged before he tried punching at their atomic enemy.

The strange molecule man dodged around Rock but Frank came running up as well, "COURAGE!"

The molecule man got around Frank's attack and managed to land a hit first. The colors of the world seemed to invert as Frank took the hit and fell to the ground. He writhed slightly before he too vanished from sight.

Ness wasn't sure how to feel about any of this besides confused. He charged more lightning energy in his hand and blasted it at the molecule personification. The strange being spasmed for a bit but Ness didn't let off the energy and continued to shock it with an increasing amount of electricity until the protons and neutrons of the molecules broke apart and the entire being collapsed.

Both Ness and Rock looked around for a moment processing that the assistance that had accompanied them thus far on the dangerous road was gone.

"Should we go back?" Rock asked.

"No…" Ness turned and looked forward, "We need to keep going."

Rock returned to Ness's side and gave him a reassuring smile, "We can do this."

Ness nodded and the two continued on.

The fog didn't let up in what felt like the miles that followed. If anything it worsened to the point where the boys could barely see the next step in front of them. Rock reached out and took Ness's hand. Ness looked at him strangely for a moment but Rock explained, "We need to make sure we don't get separated in this mess."

"Okay," Ness gripped Rock's hand tighter as the fog overtook everything almost completely. The moistness clung to their skin but kept them cool while walking for such a long distance. It was impossible to tell how much time had passed when the fog finally began to spread, "I think I can see again!"

Both boys stopped as they looked around and found themselves surrounded by a twisted forest. The plants weren't quite trees, but large curled stalks of something like tentacles. The mushy red path continued to cut through the unrecognizable forest.

"I don't like this…" Ness whispered.

"It's different," Rock commented. Even though they could see out a little further than before Ness had yet to let go of Rock's hand.

"What's that?" Ness peered ahead and could see the shape of a person in the mist. As they approached it became clear that standing in front of them was the spitting image Ness himself.

The other Ness waved as they approached, "Hey me!"

Ness stared at his fully clothed doppleganger for a moment with his mouth agape, "That's me?"

The other Ness took a few steps closer, "Am I really that slow? Apparently you don't even understand that the enemies you faced so far represent your need for acceptance, tension towards affection, the guilt you harbor, and the uncertainty you feel."

Ness's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about what his copy was telling him, "What are you talking about?"

The other Ness only smiled coyly at the naked boy.

"Be careful," Rock warned as he kept a close eye on the newcomer.

Ness was feeling freaked out staring at himself, "What do you want?"

The clothed Ness came closer and leaned on Ness's shoulder, "I found something that you lost, I thought you might like it back."

Not sure how to respond in this situation Ness remained quiet for a moment. The other Ness seemed perfectly happy to engage Ness in a stare down. His hand began to make circles in the moisture still clinging to Ness's skin.

The moment was awkward for Ness as he finally asked, "What did you find?"

The clone pointed towards a box near one of the twisted tentacle trees, "It's right in there."

Very cautiously, Ness separated himself from both his copy and Rock and stepped over to the box. He opened it up and reached inside to pull out a purple bycocket hat. He had to blink a few times as he looked it over, "My dad's old hunting hat?"

The other Ness sauntered closer to Ness. He took the hat from Ness's hands and draped it over the naked boy's head, "It used to mean so much to you, but then you just went and lost it one day, shameful."

Ness put his hand up to the hat, "I did lose this hat… I don't even remember when I lost it…"

The other Ness shook his head, "You've lost far more than that hat."

The look on Ness's face hardened as he turned back to his double, "What are you talking about?"

"You know it," The other Ness's face darkened as he leaned towards the real one, "You lost who you are, you don't have site on the person _you_ want to be for _yourself_. What do you think someone like you grows up to become?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rock stepped between the two and held onto the real Ness, "You don't need to listen to this guy, you're a good person."

The other Ness poked his head over Rock's shoulder, "Who happens to be a liar, a cheater, and a thief! Not exactly characteristics of someone I'd call pure of heart."

"Shut up!" Ness pushed Rock out of the way and tackled his doppleganger.

The clothed Ness let his eyes wander over the real Ness's body, "Oh, did I mention you're also a bit of a perv?"

Ness growled but before he could respond his doppleganger simply sank through the ground, out of his grasp. An eerie chuckling echoed through the tentacle forest in a frightening tone. "Do you want to believe something different? Let's see if you can!" The tentacle like trees began to wriggle and move.

"What the hell?" Again Ness was frightened and confused as the tentacle vines reached for both he and Rock. The boys tried jumping out of the way but the vines were too quick and wrapped several times around their torso. With a mighty heave both boys were lifted high into the air. The force of the ascent pulled the air from their lungs for a moment before they were plunged back to the surface and forced through the purple ocean.

Neither boy could see under the murky water. They both felt the tentacles leave their bodies and immediately they swam for the surface as fast as they could. Once breached, they took deep breaths and looked around. No longer outside, they found themselves in some kind of underground cavern.

Ness squinted as he tried to peer through the darkness, "Where are we now?"

The voice of the other Ness echoed above them, "The Sea of Eden, the heart of Magicant! This is where your real nightmare begins!"

Both Ness and Rock caught sight of a shadow jumping across stalagmites and started swimming after it. The water became shallow enough for the boys to stand so they were able to wade through the end of the cavern.

"It looks like it's getting wider, but I can't see anything," Ness complained as he looked from side to side.

The other Ness's echoing voice responded, "Let's shed some light on the situation then."

Ness and Rock jumped as a previously unseen torch lit next to them. A series of torches then began to light one at a time. The light revealed elaborate columns in a great cavern which touched the stone ceiling. In the center of the cavernous room emerged a shadow, completely invisible until the torches around it lit. The torches flickered over the shadow revealing the twisted grin of the other Ness, now he too stood completely naked before the other two, but his skin took on a state of shimmering gold rather than flesh. Even his eyes glistened like polished metal under the dim light of the flickering flames. He didn't move and only stared down at the two wet boys before him, "You will be judged."

For a moment Ness was frozen. While everything was strange and unexplainable, it was somehow all terrifyingly familiar, "What…?"

"Do you recognize me now?" The smile on the golden Ness grew wider into a look of near insanity, "Your nightmare?"

Ness gulped but tried to remain strong.

"That's right, put on a show for your friend here like you're a big boy," the golden Ness snickered, "Tell me though, are you crying on the inside? Wishing your mommy was here to hold you?"

Purple eyes widened slightly as the golden Ness began to slowly approach, "I'm scared… but that…"

"So run home then," The golden Ness crossed his arms, "It's so obvious you don't belong out here, you don't know how to do anything for yourself do you? Everything you accomplish was either with someone else's help or through tricking your way through it." Foggy clouds rolled in from behind the golden Ness. Images began to appear on the fog as if being projected by some invisible force. Images of Ness's past. Many of the images were instances Ness had stolen food or items from store keeps in Onett, or times when Pokey or Ninten talked him into helping them on one of their schemes, or when he cheated at sports by using a yew paddle to hit the ball farther than the other kids.

Ness was quiet for a long moment, "I don't… I really don't belong."

A gleam flickered in the grinning golden Ness's eye. The water which had been knee height began to rise and small waves formed at its surface. The Huge toothy smile never faded from the golden Ness's face, but even as he stood there looking completely calm, his golden skin began to melt from his body leaving a smiling skull underneath. One shining golden eye continued to stare out from the skull. Despite the smile, the eye was filled with judgement. Ness's mouth dropped open as he backed away, "Oh did that do it? You recognize me now huh? That's your nightmare isn't it? You know it's true, that one day you're destiny is to become... me!"

Rock forced Ness to look up at him, "No one's perfect Ness. No one is expecting you to be perfect but you. You're a good guy and you need to understand that now!"

"Why are we even out here Rock? Where are we going to go? I want to go home!" Ness confessed how he was feeling and couldn't stop the emotion from escaping now that he'd voiced it. His shoulders quivered as he tried to hold himself back from crying.

The turbulence in the water became worse.

Rock pulled Ness into him, "Listen Ness, it's okay to feel homesick, there's nothing wrong with it at all. I miss my home a lot. And there's nothing to be ashamed of in getting emotional and crying when you have to. I won't judge you or think less of you for it. Don't let yourself fall into darkness, I know that's not who you really are."

Ness stared at Rock in silence unsure of what to say or what to do.

"If this isn't a Kodak moment," The skeleton shrugged and somehow blinked the golden eye that floated in the hollowness of its left eye socket. "If you keep following the path you're on kid, you're destined to do horrible things…"

Ness quivered as the skeleton took a few steps closer, "It's a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming… On days like these, kids like you..."

Both Ness and Rock were looking scared as the fire in the torches intensified, filling the cavern with a great heat.

"...Should be burning in hell!" A golden glow came over Ness's skeleton as he pointed a finger at the boys releasing a beam of energy. Ness and Rock jumped in opposite directions as the beam hit the water, evaporating all it hit immediately.

"SHUT UP!" Anger flooded through Ness as he ran up along the left side of the skeleton, sparks of energy built up in his hand as he jumped out of the purple water and fired his thunderbolt at his nightmare.

"What?" The skeleton never stopped smiling as the lightning bolt approached. There was a strange shift in the room that was almost unnoticeable, but when it ended the skeleton had moved several feet to the side without actually moving. "You thought I was just gonna stand there and take it?"

"How…" Ness shook his head trying to get a grip on what his skeleton nightmare was even doing.

The golden eye glimmered, "If that's the best you've got then you should give up on this little quest before it even begins."

Rock tried his luck next as he jumped in to punch the skeleton from behind. The skeleton turned around almost instantaneously and caught Rock's punch, "Nuh-uh," The skeleton waved his free finger in Rock's face, "I thought you would have known better than to challenge me yourself." Rock looked surprised for a moment before that free finger curled up against a thumb and then flicked against Rock's face with enough force to send him skipping along the water before crashing into a stalagmite.

"A skipping stone, get it? His name is Rock!" The skeleton laughed but Ness remained stoic and posed to fight. "No laughs today? You normally laugh at dumber jokes than that! Or do you do that only as a way to fail at making friends?"

Ness grit his teeth and clenched his fists tighter as he lunged at the skeleton again. With electricity built up in both fists, Ness resorted to throwing punches, but the skeleton dodged them all without hardly ever moving.

"So uncreative, you're never gonna make it in this world, just give up," the purple water began swirling around the two like a whirlpool.

"I don't… want to…" Ness admitted to both the skeleton and himself.

The skeleton stood quietly, it's smile and stare unwavering, "You sure about that? It's risky business moving forward from here. So easy to fall into temptation and believe me, the monster in your future awaits…"

A stronger look came over Ness as he continued to throw punches at the skeleton, "I won't!"

"That's new," The skeleton's eye gleamed as he dodged all of Ness's punches, "It will be dangerous though, even I could have destroyed you fifty seven times by now, and maybe I did."

Ness grunted and opened his mouth to speak but the skeleton stopped by saying, "Fifty eight. You just don't seem sure enough, so I'm going to save you a whole lot of trouble and stop this game right now!"

The whirlpool surrounding the two of them moved to the side over to where Rock was still watching the fight. Rock tried to jump out of the way but tentacles like the ones before lashed out from under the water and grabbed onto his wrists holding him in place as the height of the whirlpool raised over his head and swallowed him whole.

"ROCK!" Ness shouted as he saw Rock look like he was drowning while being tied down inside the violent typhoon.

Ness's skeleton cocked his head to the side, "So what's it gonna be, are you gonna destroy me before he drowns and hope that you don't become evil yourself, or are you going to run home crying to your mommy like you always do?"

Ness held his hand forward as a huge bolt of lightning built in his palm. The skeleton held his arms out as if daring Ness to hit him, the wide grin never faltering from his skull. The lightning in Ness's hand lit up the room much brighter than the torches as Ness readied the strike. Once he had all the power he needed though, he didn't do anything. The skeleton lowered his arms and continued to stare at Ness as the electricity faded from the boy's hand and he sank to his knees.

"You're no hero, it's time to go home," the skeleton continued grinning.

"I…" Ness's eyes were wide and his jaw quivered as he watched Rock struggle.

"Only a few more moments and then it will all be over," Ness's nightmare skeleton didn't laugh, only spoke as though he was pointing out the obvious.

Ness's eyes solidified into a look of determination, "I'm coming!" He charged across the water toward the whirlpool.

"Oh…" The skeleton watched as Ness jumped into the typhoon with Rock, "I suppose it didn't occur to me that you could just choose to die together."

Ness reached for the tentacle holding Rock in place. He grabbed the end of it and pulled as hard as he could while still holding his breath. The tentacle wouldn't budge no matter how much force Ness pulled on it with.

Giving up on that tentacle, Ness tried the other one but with no better result. Rock smiled softly at Ness before his eyes closed and his head nodded to the side. Ness let out a scream under the water which pulled out all of his air as he shook his friend. Rock's head just limply rolled back and forth. Ness's arms wrapped around Rock's back and he pulled himself into Rock's chest and squeezed him tightly.

Without air, Ness's vision started fading as well. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to do," was all he could think.

His eyes closed and things began to go black.

"You're a good guy Ness." Ness's eyes snapped open again as he heard Rock's words repeating in his head. "No one expects you to be perfect, just be _you_ and I know you'll be fine."

Ness clenched his eyes and teeth shut again. Behind his closed eyelids he saw a light, a light brighter than the sun, and it was filling him up.

The skeleton put a hand up to shield the light entering his eye as the insanely bright light shined out from the typhoon. There was a splash like explosion and a streak of light which caused the skeleton to turn around and find Ness with Rock still held close to him on the other side of the cavern, "What did you…?"

Rock began coughing water out of his lungs while still being held tight in Ness's arms. The violet eyed boy looked over Rock's shoulder at the skeleton who looked bewildered for the first time.

A smile returned to the skeleton, "So now you think you can defy fate and be a hero after all! Keep playing like that and you may just have a chance."

Ness set Rock down gently before he stood with a look of courage and determination, "I get it now, Rock knew this whole time, but you're literally my nightmare, what I created out of my own fear. This whole world is responding the way it is because of how I feel."

"Uhoh…" The skeleton grinned, "You think it's so simple?"

"Doesn't need to be simple," Ness responded, "I know what's going on and I know what I need to feel. Everything changed so fast and I let it get to me. I needed to feel it in myself that I can do this, that I can go out there and make difference, that I'm not destined for failure, or becoming something evil and horrible. I'm me! And no nightmare is gonna change that!"

The skeleton of Ness's nightmare was about to make another wisecrack when suddenly Ness was no longer standing in front of him. A light was shining from behind which caused his shadow to glow along the water. He turned around as Ness drove his fist in an uppercut to the skeleton's jaw. A beam of lightning energy shot out of the ground as Ness's fist came up and completely enveloped the skeleton boy. Only the outline of the bones and the golden eye could be seen through the pillar of lightning as Ness blew his nightmare away.

The light cleared and left no trace of the skeleton behind.

Rock was starting to push himself up. He grinned to Ness and gave him a thumbs up. Ness returned the gesture and mouthed, "Thank you."

Then nothing else happened. The two continued to stand in the large cavern with only the sound of torches and slow trickling of water to fill their ears.

"So…" Ness finally put his hand down, "Now what?"

Rock stood up and shrugged, "No idea, I thought you'd wake up and that would be that."

The fog rolled in again from behind the throne causing the two boys to watch with mild worry as it stopped and an image began to form on it again, this time of the skull with the golden eye, "Yup very good, you totally won."

"Umm…" Ness scratched his head, "Seriously?"

"Of course, would I lie?" The skull laughed, "I just wanted to tell you one last thing."

Ness and Rock looked at each other and then back at the skull projection, "What's that?"

"Don't forget, don't ever forget the courage and determination you found here today. Learn from your mistakes and do what you feel is right, not what you feel others have imposed on you."

Ness blinked, "Okay, I won't, anything else?"

"Nope that's it," a skeleton hand formed in the projection and waved at them, "bye now!"

Another whirlpool formed beneath Ness's and Rock's feet. "Whoa!" Ness shouted as he lost his footing from being blasted up by the typhoon. They were shot high into the air, far past where the roof of the cavern should have been. They were being carried up so quickly the force of their movement kept them pinned to the top of the rising pillar of water.

Ness grabbed onto Rock's arm. Rock looked over to Ness concerned for a moment, but Ness looked back at him with a smile on his face. Rock grinned too as they were shot up toward a growing light.

* * *

Ness woke up with a start. He looked around and saw he was in some kind of cave. He looked down and saw he was still wearing his tattered tunic from before. He tried to move and found his hand was entwined with Rock's.

Rock was still wearing his singed tunic pants from the day before which left Ness wondering for a moment. Ness began shaking his friend, "Hey, Rock! Wake up, are you okay?"

Rock's face scrunched for a moment before his eyes opened. He sat up as well and looked around, "Where are we?"

"Is this the cave by Onett?" Ness asked unsure himself.

"I don't think so…" Rock climbed to his feet and looked around the dim cave.

Ness bit his lip as he thought about something before getting up, "Hey Rock, I'm trying to figure out if I had a dream or if it really happened…"

Rock tilted his head to the side, "A dream huh? What was it about?"

"I…" Ness started to shift but his hand rubbed against something soft. He picked it up and looked at it more closely, "...My dad's hunting hat…"

Rock grinned, "Didn't you lose that awhile back? How did it end up here?"

Ness blinked a few times in awe at the hat but eventually put it on his head and climbed to his feet. He was still looking confident as he looked up towards a light that was filtering through the top of the cave, "There's definitely light coming through from up there." The two climbed up the wall of the cave to the source of the light.

"I think I can see out," Rock hopped from boulder to boulder approaching the top faster.

"I wonder how long we were asleep," Ness hurried to keep up with Rock as he climbed.

The two poked their heads out of the ground and found a lush green landscape. Trees dotted the green field, birds flew high above, and the sound of a nearby waterfall filled their ears.

Ness turned and his eyes widened as he grabbed onto Rock, "Look!"

Both boys looked down the field behind them and saw a large castle built of grey bricks and a red roof. On the main tower at the front of the castle was a stained glass window of a lady in a pink dress.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Sorry for making this such a long chapter. I was tempted to break it into two chapters, but one - I wanted to get Magicant through quickly since a lot of people are unfamiliar with it, and two - a lot of what was going on was subtle and I knew it wouldn't make any sense until it neared the end.

Thanks a lot for putting up with this word spew. Let me know what you think of the story so far! Also please feel free to be my friend on any social app!


	5. One Fateful Knight

Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

After escaping the attack on Onett, Ness and Rock awoke and found themselves naked in the strange land of magicant. Magicant seemed to resonate with Ness's emotions; his doubts, fears, and self conscious worries all manifested into more troubling conditions until they faced off against Ness's Nightmare who became an eerie skeleton form who reveled in taunting Ness further.

Though Ness had difficulty throughout the challenge, he found his courage and determination to go on before it was too late and stopped his skeleton counterpart from doing any more damage. Ness and Rock then escaped Magicant leaving Ness wondering if it was all just a dream. He didn't have long to ponder as a large castle could be seen in the distance with a stained glass window in the front of a praying lady in pink dress.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 4: One Fateful Knight****

* * *

"Wow, where are we?" Ness gazed on at the castle still starry eyed.

"That's right, you've never seen a castle up close before huh?" Rock leaned down and examined the plant life, "Aha! I thought so."

"What?" Ness looked over Rock's shoulder wondering what he was doing.

Rock held up a cluster of mushrooms, "You see the red coloring of these mushrooms with the white dots?"

Ness waved his hands as he backed away from the fungus in Rock's hands, "Sorry, I'm not a big mushroom fan."

"You don't have to eat it," Rock laughed, "But this type of mushroom only grows in one place, that means we must be in the actual Mushroom Kingdom."

Ness's mouth opened like he was about to say something but he stopped himself as he thought about it more and then tried again, "But… isn't the Mushroom Kingdom… like really far away from Eagleland?"

Rock nodded, "Other side of the continent."

Ness scratched his head under his hat, "How'd we get here so fast?"

"Don't know," Rock admitted, "but it works well for us, no one will be looking for us out this far."

"That's true…" Ness kept staring up at the castle with a blank look on his face.

Rock tried to get a look at Ness out of the corner of his eye as if gauging him for something.

After a long moment of silence passed Ness finally asked, "Can we go see the castle up close?"

Relief became apparent in Rock's expression as he nodded, "Definitely, let's check it out!"

The two boys walked the short distance up the road that led to the castle. The road ended at a stone bridge that arched over a large moat that surrounded the castle. Both Ness and Rock stood on the bridge and admired the large structure.

"Castles are cool," Ness seemed genuinely fascinated at his first castle visit.

"It's kind of odd though…" Rock looked around the surrounding area.

Nothing seemed out of place to Ness, "What is?"

Rock tilted his head and tapped on his chin in thought, "That this is a castle meant for the royalty of this kingdom, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around."

Despite banners waving on top of the castle towers, there was no one around, no guards, no townspeople. Ness realized too that it was a little odd.

Both boys felt the temperature rising from behind. They turned around and saw a fireball falling towards them.

"MOVE!" Rock pulled Ness out of the way as the fireball hit where they had been standing and burst into a large green flame.

"What the hell was that?!" Ness shouted in panic.

Rock looked down the field and pointed toward three fast approaching riders. The three warriors appeared to be riding giant green lizards which were dashing towards them quickly. The leader held his hand up towards the sky and green flames formed a ball over his palm, "They don't look happy that we're here…"

Another fireball was shot in their direction. Without much choice in direction, Rock pushed on the door to the castle. He seemed surprised that it opened and motioned for Ness to hurry inside.

The two quickly pushed the door shut. They got a brief look at their pursuer who wore a knight's full plate armor stained a green color. His lizard like steed was also armored in green and had a tongue that draped far below its mouth as if it were hungry. The furious gaze of the green warrior pierced through the two boys as the door slid shut and blocked out the explosion.

The door shook and heated up but withstood the attack from outside.

Immediately Rock braced himself against the door while Ness looked to the side of the door and noticed a barricade bar leaning against the wall, "Help me with this!"

"That'll do it!" Rock grabbed onto the other end of the bar as the two picked it up and placed it over the brackets on either side of the door.

The door shook violently as soon as the barricade was down, "OPEN THIS DOOR AT ONCE!"

Ness slowly backed away from the shaking door, "Seriously, what the hell is their problem?"

"Well…" Rock looked around the bright open lobby of the castle, "If I had to guess, they're probably the guards of this castle…"

"Oh…" Ness realized that made some sense, "But they could have just said 'hi' or something, they didn't have to start shooting."

The shaking and yelling from the other side of the door didn't cease.

Rock nodded, "Yeah… Something is seriously wrong… but as long as they're this angry we can't just leave that way. We're going to have to find another way out."

"Right," Ness helped Rock look around the first room they found themselves in. The ceiling was high with hallways leading left and right, stairs going up to a landing with more hallways leading left and right from the second floor. There were also at least five large doors against the back wall leading further into the castle. Ness gulped, "This place looks huge…"

"Yeah, so let's try not to get lost," Rock grinned as they stepped further into the castle.

A burning smell reached their noses as the boys looked behind them and noticed the barricade on the door was being burned through from the outside.

"Well," Ness gulped, "I guess this means we don't have time for the tour."

"That way!" Rock picked a door that led behind the staircase and the two hurried down hoping to find a place to hide.

Behind the stairs led to a long corridor towards the back of the castle, and another set of stairs going further down into the castle cellar. "Maybe there's a way out the back!" The two ran as fast as they could past what must have been the kitchen from the amount of serving trays piled up outside of it, through the straight hall, and jumped at the door to push it open. Though the two found sunlight, serenity, and a beautiful open sky, they were also surrounded by a thirty foot high wall on all sides of the small courtyard.

"Damn…" Rock checked quickly at all the sides of the courtyard, but there was no other way out, "No good, we've gotta go back."

The two reentered the castle and ran back towards the lobby area. The sounds of footsteps above them caused them to slide to a halt. Someone was taking the stairs up just over their heads. The two started backing up slowly hoping to find another door that might lead them to a way out.

As Ness backed up he just barely bumped into a serving tray from the kitchen. His eyes opened wide in panic as he tried to turn and stop the tray from falling. He just missed the tray which had the domino effect of bumping into several other trays which knocked off their platters while making horribly loud clattering sounds.

Both Ness and Rock shut their eyes and went tense as the plate crashing rang out. The footsteps previously going up the stairs began to clamber downward.

"Time to move," Rock pushed Ness forward towards the stairs leading further down into the cellar. The door at the bottom of the stairs opened and the two hurried in, "I'm sure they'll check down here, we gotta find some place…"

"This way!" Ness called as he ran through a large opening to the right which appeared to be the castle's water system. The tunnels under the castle were more like a labyrinth, and the water was getting deeper.

Heavy splashing footsteps were definitely getting closer. Out of the corner of his eye, Rock caught sight of a room to his right with stairs going up to a door, and below it was a grating where water was flowing through. The duct behind it looked big enough to fit through if they could open it. He grabbed onto Ness while pointing at it to get the point across and the two of them hurried as silently as they could to pull the metal grate off before climbing in and pulling it shut behind them.

The piping was narrow and Ness and Rock found themselves pushed up against each other while trying to both stay hidden and see who was chasing them. The two boys tried to control their breathing and remain quiet as the running footsteps neared just outside their hiding spot.

First the knight in green plate armor ran into the corridor. After getting a better look at him the two could tell he was moderately tall and had a mustache under his helmet. Close behind him came two smaller warriors, one wore a blue checkered banner in front of his armor, while the other had a yellow checkered banner.

"I don't hear anything over here," the blue one said.

The green armored man nodded, "I could hear them running, but the sounds stopped not far from here."

"The water gate control is just over that way," The yellow one brought up.

A nod was the only response the green armored man gave as the walked up the stairs beyond the boys' sight. They could hear the creak of a metal door open, and then close.

Ness held his breath as he tried to listen for any other sounds. He unconsciously found himself pressed harder against Rock's bare chest to help ease his anxiety in the small pipe. He and Rock continued to wait, but several minutes went by without a sound.

"Think they're gone?" Ness's voice a soft whisper so only Rock could hear.

"Hope so," Rock replied as he crawled forward and pushed the grating open again. He climbed out and helped Ness up behind him. They started to slowly wade their way back out when the sound of a clearing throat froze them in their tracks.

Slowly Ness and Rock looked over their shoulders and saw the green armored man and his lackeys standing in front of the raised doorway. Ness realized they only opened the door and closed it in order to trick them.

The green armored man held out a hand and called forth more flames.

Rock put up his hands, "Hold on a second, we weren't here to cause any trouble, honest, we were just looking at the castle until you blasted at us in the first place!"

The man in green replied in a heavy accent, "You expect me to believe that you managed to make it past five defensive lines undetected to just see the castle and not cause trouble?" The green flames showed an anger building on the green man's face.

"We didn't really make it past the defenses so much as we…" Rock gulped at his own explanation, "...sort of… tunneled underneath them… or teleported… or something like that."

The green warrior looked unimpressed, "The punishment for invading the royal grounds is execution!"

"WHOA!" The green man threw the fireball causing both boys to jump out of the way. The fireball hit the water and filled the room with steam.

The green armored man pulled out a great axe from behind his back and jumped high off the platform. Ness watched as the man came down at him from near the ceiling of the maze. Rock managed to push Ness out of the way with one hand and pull out one of his metal blade disks with the other to deflect the axe coming down over him.

"Not so innocent after all are you, assassin?" The green man swung again with his axe but Rock jumped back out of the way.

"These?" Rock laughed, "It's dangerous out there, you gotta have something to defend yourself with against all the nutjobs that go around swinging axes at your head!"

The two warriors behind the green man rejoined his side and drew swords. The man in green pointed his hand forward and cast another green fireball towards the boys.

Rock stepped forward and threw his metal blade at the approaching fireball. The fireball exploded upon contact with the disk causing all three of the warriors to shield their faces and the disk to go flying into a wall where it became embedded with a loud clang.

"Come on!" Rock urged Ness and the two started running back out from where they came from.

"AFTER THEM!" They could hear the green man shouting behind but kept running.

A fork in the labyrinth ahead made Rock slow slightly, "Was it left or right where we came from?"

Ness pointed to the left, "That way!"

The two ran as fast as they could, the sound of their pursuers still only a turn behind them. Light ahead signalled their return to the well lit portion of the castle cellar. Once out of the water, Ness turned around.

"What are you doing?" Rock asked while urging Ness to hurry.

"I'm done with this," once the warriors were back in view, the green armored man began forming a fireball again but Ness kneeled down first and put his hands to the water, "THUNDER!" A blinding light was given off by the whole water way as the three warriors were caught by the conductive electricity. Ness pulled his hands out of the water and the three warriors fell back into the water, at least stunned for the time being. "I hope you all rust!" Ness shouted as he turned and started moving again.

"Way to go!" Rock high fived his friend, "That should buy us enough time to get out of here!"

Ness beamed, happy for the praise and glad he was able to help, "Definitely!"

The two boys ran back up the stairs towards the front of the castle. They were back in the grand lobby when they noticed something was different. Rock looked confused as he stopped running, "Is it brighter in here than it was before?"

Ness also noticed the difference, "Yeah, it's coming from…" He walked toward the center of the room, "up there." He pointed up towards a mural of the sun and found himself being levitated off the ground, "WHOA!"

"Ness!" Rock ran and jumped onto Ness, grabbing onto him just as everything turned white.

Air, just the sound of air could be heard as the boys vision slowly returned to them. They rubbed their eyes and then realized they were falling. They were somehow insanely high up off the ground and falling fast.

"Oh shit!" Ness watched wide eyed as the ground approached.

Rock also panicked. "Oh man, was that some kind of trap?" He looked all around trying to find a way out of hitting the ground with a splat.

"Hey look!" Ness pointed to something red falling within a beam of light not far from where they were, "I think I can get it!" Angling himself to catch air properly, Ness started inching his way closer to the falling object.

Rock tried to stay near but seemed to have less control over his falling movement. He had to yell over the sound of air whooshing past their ears, "What is it?"

"It looks like…" Ness tried getting closer, "A hat?"

"A hat… right… because that makes sense..." Rock grumbled sarcastically as he looked down again. A castle tower was approaching fast through the clouds.

Ness slowly drifted towards the red hat at a much slower pace than they were all falling at, "Almost!"

Rock gulped as he saw Ness's fingertips reach for the hat while the tower of the castle was coming up just below them, "I sure hope that actually does something otherwise we're…"

"Got it!" Ness shouted and again blinding light filled their vision until everything went white.

"OOF!" Both boys hit the ground with a hard thump, but no where near as hard as they would have hit after falling such a height.

Ness opened his eyes and checked the item he'd grabbed, "Hey look, there's an "M" on the front."

Rock rolled over and took a closer look, "I guess it's like how some people mark their names on their clothes."

A loud dong went off behind the boys, startling them for a moment. They finally took a look at their surroundings and saw they were inside a large foyer with a great clock behind them and a staircase leading up to a wide double door.

As the tolls of the bell finished ringing, the large doors atop the stairs opened.

Ness and Rock watched the door carefully, but there didn't appear to be anyone nearby, "Should we umm…"

Rock nodded, "It looks like we're being invited up."

Cautiously the two boys made their way up the stairs and slowly peeked into the next room only to find many more stairs leading straight up.

"I wonder where this goes…" Rock was the one looking nervous which was something Ness wasn't used to.

"Only one way to find out," Ness started up the stairs with Rock close behind.

At first the two walked, but the staircase was so long they couldn't see the top. Ness became impatient and started skipping steps trying to get up faster. Rock kept pace and was hopping along side him.

"Do you think we're still in the castle?" Ness asked as he was almost jogging, "How far up can these go?"

Rock tried running up the stairs and passed Ness, "I'm not sure, but you'd think you could see the top by now."

Ness stopped and looked back down, "Rock! Stop!"

Rock hopped up a few more steps and stopped, "What is… the hell?" The two boys looked behind them and saw that after all the running they did up the stairs, the bottom of the staircase was still just behind them.

"That…" Rock walked back down about ten steps and was back on the landing at the bottom, "doesn't make sense…" he looked around to make sure it really was the room at the bottom of the stairs as he remembered it.

Ness took a look as well, "I know we went up at least five or six stories, no way were just a few feet from the bottom…"

Rock sighed, "It must be some kind of spell…" He looked more closely at the stairs themselves, "Like some kind of repeating space spell or something to make the stairs neverending…"

Ness kneeled on the stairs and examined them closely alongside Rock, "So what do we do?"

"I'm not sure yet," Rock leaned back in thought.

Ness held his head as close to the stairs as he could and looked up to try and see the top, "So anything that goes up doesn't actually make it to the top right?"

Rock didn't have a chance to answer as Ness pointed his hand up at the angle of the stairs. Rock shielded his eyes as a lightning bolt formed in Ness's hand and he threw it. The bolt shot up the stairs and once it reached the edge of their vision both boys were surprised when it disappeared only to repeat the path from several feet in front of them and then became stuck in a loop. The bolt made several fast loops before it dissipated into darkness.

Ness blinked a few times unsure of what he just saw, "That was weird." Rock nodded in agreement.

Again Ness held his hand forward, "I'm gonna try something else…" Ness concentrated and his hand began to spark. Bolts of static lit the room and cast wild flickering shadows on the walls. An incredible amount of electricity danced in Ness's hands and once he felt it was enough he pointed it up the stairs again. A huge sustained bolt shot out from Ness's hand. Once the bolt hit the edge of the repeating spell it began to loop again from just up the stairs where the boys stood.

Ness didn't let the spell end, in fact he intensified the bolt so it took up more area in the staircase. The looping spell began to cause the lightning bolt to feedback onto itself, making it even bigger and more powerful than Ness had originally created it to be. The sound of thunder was deafening as Ness pushed one more time to put everything he could into the bolt.

"Keep it up!" Rock encouraged, "It looks like you're overloading the spell!"

The very air around the staircase formed a series of splintering cracks. The lightning bolt made one final loop through the repeating spell and then looked as though it punched a hole through the center of the cracks. Like a shattering window the cracks worked their way across the entire staircase before the image of the stairs broke into thousands of pieces and fell to the ground revealing the same staircase behind them.

Ness ended his lightning spell and everything calmed. After the shattering pieces of air disappeared, the staircase didn't look any different than it did before. Nothing else seemed to be happening as the two boys stared up the steps again.

Ness took in a few deep breaths, still recovering from the exertion, "Did that do anything at all?"

"I think it did!" Rock began climbing the steps again and Ness hopped up quickly to stay at his side. This time after climbing a few dozen steps the next floor came into view, "That's it!"

With renewed energy the two bounded for the next floor. At the top of the stairs was a long room, a serene light filtered in through the stained glass window of the praying woman in pink high above the room. The first thing in the room was a long meeting table with many seats surrounding it. A layer of dust covered the table as if it hadn't been used in a long while. At the back of the room under the window was a large portrait of the princess in the pink dress.

Ness and Rock stood in front of the portrait. Ness pulled off his hat, "I've never seen a portrait drawn so lifelike…"

"Yeah, she looks so real…" Rock was awestruck as well by the beauty and detail of the painting.

As the two boys examined the portrait closely, the eyes on the princess slowly opened, "AHHH!"

Startled by the moving portrait, both boys jumped back and took cover behind the chairs of the meeting table.

"Do not be frightened," a light pitched but soothing voice came from the portrait.

Ness and Rock looked at each other again before they slowly emerged from behind the furniture and approached the portrait that was obviously moving now.

"How…" Rock gulped as he tried to look behind the portrait; it was completely flat as would be expected from a painting, "What kind of magic is this?"

The princess closed her eyes and nodded, "I was placed under a dark curse and sealed away within this painting, but there is no need to fear me, I would never hurt either of you."

The voice was so sincere that immediately both boys were put at ease. Ness stepped a little closer, "Who are you?"

The lady in pink smiled, "I am Princess Peach, sovereign over the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Oh wow…" Rock nodded as he recognized the name, "What happened here? How long have you been trapped like this?"

The smile faded slightly from Peach's face, "It was three years ago, The Mushroom Kingdom was one of the first targets of the newly formed Golden Empire."

Ness and Rock shared another look understanding that The Golden Empire has been causing a lot of trouble. Before anything else could be said, the sound of clanking armor was heard running up the stairs.

"They found us!" Ness put his hat back on and turned. Both he and Rock got ready to fight if need be.

The green armored man reached the top of the stairs. Behind him was a young man wearing a red and white checkered doublet. His eyes locked onto the two boys and a new wave of anger flooded over him, "You DARE desecrate this place…"

"Luigi, that's enough!" the green armored man stopped and kneeled before the painting.

"Your highness," The man's accented voice quivered as he spoke, "I apologize, these two somehow made it past our defenses, and I underestimated their abilities in the cellar."

Peach shook her head, "These two boys are not the enemy, look."

Luigi turned his gaze up towards Ness and noticed the red cap in the boy's hand with the "M" embroidered on it, "Where did you get that?"

Ness gulped, "We were trying to get out of the castle and when we looked up at the painting of the sky it was like we got warped to a place high in the sky where we were falling, and this hat was there so I grabbed it."

"You understand now?" Peach grinned sweetly, "To have made it here with that, this boy has a heart not unlike your brother's."

Luigi stood and shook himself off, "He attacked my men and I…"

Ness bowed in apology, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you but I was really afraid you were going to hurt my friend Rock and me."

"I would have killed you had I caught you," Luigi still spoke menacingly but crossed his arms as he became quiet, "Just know, this country has already suffered greatly getting caught up in this legend of champions once before, we will not do so again." Ness looked confused as Luigi turned, his cape ruffled and the young man behind him jumped aside to give him room as he began to leave, "I will take my leave, I'm sure the outposts are in need of refortification."

"Luigi," Princess Peach managed to get the man to stop in his tracks.

Nervously, Luigi turned and bowed his head, "Yes mi'lady?"

A tender smile grew on the Princess's face, "Please come visit more often."

Luigi closed his eyes and sighed, "I will make every effort." He turned and began to descend the stairs.

The other young man looked around the room, "Should I accompany Luigi or should I stay?"

The princess grinned at the young man, "Please stay Toad, I hope you don't mind seeing to our visitor's needs while they're here." Toad gave a slight smile before he moved to the back of the room and waited patiently.

Peach turned to her two guests, "Now where were we? Oh yes…" She straightened out as if getting more comfortable within the portrait, "Three years ago, the world was a much more peaceful place, the various kingdoms were thriving, and though tribulations existed there were heroes willing to stand up and fight for the people."

Ness and Rock sat down in front of the painting and listened intently.

"During this time a legend was due to come to fruition, six heroes, each chosen by one of the six prime elements were to gather and bring the world into a magical harmony. This is necessary as the primary elements are naturally opposed to each other and will erupt into chaos should they go unchecked for too long." Peach looked down at Ness, "That hat you hold in your hands belonged to the Champion of Fire," her voice lowered into a sigh as she said, "His name was Mario."

Ness's face lit up as he took in the story, "Mario!"

Rock nodded, "I've heard a lot about Mario… wait… you called that other soldier Luigi?!"

Peach smiled sadly, "Yes, his younger brother, please forgive him. You see, three years ago when the ceremony was set for the champions to bring harmony to the magic of the world they were… interrupted…" Peach had to think for a short moment, "When the champions were at their weakest, They were attacked. There are those who who aspire to great power, and our world has none greater than that of the raw force of the elements. During the attack however there was one last unexpected safeguard to stealing the primary element's powers. Each element took their champion and hid themselves across the planet. Sadly, without our heroes, many nations were left without their defenders and were unprepared for the ferocity in which entities such as The Golden Empire began to expand. Our Mushroom Kingdom was one of the first targets. Once composed of eight self governing lands within the kingdom, all of them fell to the empire. When the empire reached the castle I had no choice but to evoke the protection of the stars over the last remnants of the kingdom who came seeking shelter. Though the castle was preserved, I was caught in a dark spell which sealed me within this painting. Since then Luigi has fought hard to reclaim enough land to produce the resources necessary for our remaining people. Though it seems the empire has set their sights on other targets and the small portion of land we have left is no longer of much concern to them."

Ness stood back up, "Yes, they attacked my home town Onett just a day ago!"

Peach sighed, "And I'm afraid Eagleland may very well fall soon, they have little in the way of defending their outlying towns and will be unprepared for the influx of refugees moving inward."

"My family is still there," Ness's eyes and fists clenched tight, "Is there anything that can be done to stop them?"

"Yes," Peach's warm smile helped Ness calm down again, "Like the champions who came before, the elements have chosen a new set of champions to complete the ritual of harmony. Once all six heroes gather they will be able to summon the power of the primary elements and rid the land of all that threaten peace."

Starting to piece things together Ness nodded, "So if we can find the new champions like Mario was then we'll be able to stop The Golden Empire and save Eagleland and everywhere else. There's six of them, one for every element. How do we find them?"

"Ness…" Rock slowly got up as he thought about how to explain to Ness what he needed to know, "This is what your mom, what everyone was talking about."

Still not comprehending, Ness tilted his head to the side, "What my mom was talking about?"

"When we left Onett, your mom said you're special, it chose _you_ ," Rock put his hands on Ness's shoulders, "Ness… The new Champion of Lightning is _you_." Ness took a moment to grasp what his friend just told him. He looked towards the portrait of the princess who gave him a small smile and nodded.

Ness's mouth hung open, almost quivering as he tried to wrap his head around the words his best friend had told him. Ness took a step back and shook his head, "I can't be it, I mean, I'd know if I was something like that right?"

"Do you remember when the empire attacked?" Rock tried to explain patiently, "You found a greater power within yourself to fight them than you've ever had before. Enough to take down entire doomships in a single shot. No ordinary lightning user can do that."

"I just…" Ness tried to find his words, "I've only ever been normal, and now _I'm_ one of the ones who's supposed to save the world? I was just barely getting comfortable with having to save Onett."

Rock couldn't help himself and laughed, "Then it's a good thing it's not a big stretch of mindset to go from saving your town to saving the world."

Ness felt infected by Rock's mood and chuckled slightly with him, "Okay, so let's say I am this "Champion" guy, what am I supposed to do?"

"It is a difficult task before you," Peach began again, "Because the ceremony was already interrupted once, gathering the power of the elements will be even more difficult to do a second time. The essence of each element crystallized during the ceremony and broke into many fragments. As the Champion of Lightning it will be up to you to collect the crystal fragments of lightning and restore the elemental force to its original state before the ceremony can continue."

"I did find a crystal yesterday, on the mountain where Pokey and Picky took me," Ness recalled the event, "It was glowing so bright when I got close to it. I could feel more power than I've ever felt before, but then it disappeared."

"It didn't disappear," Peach shook her head, "it was absorbed into you, I can sense its presence within you, feeding into you it's energy. You feel it don't you?"

The concept seemed foreign to Ness at first that something like that could be inside him. He became quiet in thought and listened to his own breathing for a moment before he closed his eyes and tried to feel inward. It was difficult tune out even the things he was barely aware of normally, such as the feeling of his clothes and his own heartbeat. He realized though these were things he was feeling so much more acutely than before. He focused on these sensations and pushed past them. He began to feel it, a sensation like a buzzing coming from deep within him, filling him, energizing him, "I didn't… I didn't _want_ to believe it before before, but I have felt something in me the last few days, filling me."

"Remember now that it's part of who you are," Peach's eyes closed slowly as she began to look a little tired.

Ness looked more determined, "Okay so I'm one of the champions, what do I have to do?"

Peach explained, "The journey ahead will be long and having made enemies with The Golden Empire it will also be very dangerous, but you must join the other five champions, and all of you must collect the shards of your elemental crystals."

An important question crossed Rock's mind, "Do you know of a way to help us find the other shards or the other champions?"

"Please hold up Mario's hat," Peach instructed as she lifted a hand forward as if she was touching the barrier on her side of the painting.

Ness held Mario's hat close to Peach's hand and the hat gently lifted on its own and gave off a bright glow. The light receded and the hat returned to Ness's hands. Ness felt a slight tug as if the hat was trying to pull him in a certain direction.

Peach let out a deep breath looking even more tired than before, "I'm afraid I don't have much power left while trapped in this painting, but that hat once belonged to the Champion of Fire. It will now guide you toward fire's new champion."

"Are you alright?" Ness asked out of concern for the portrait princess.

Peach smiled sweetly, "There's no need to worry, it's just difficult to act while in this state." Peach looked up at the young man who was still standing silently at the back of the room, "Toad, we cannot let these young heroes venture unprepared."

Toad stepped forward, "What would you like me to do your majesty?"

Peach pointed her gloved hand down into the castle, "These two need clothes, armor, weapons, supplies, anything we can spare them. There is a locked room in the armory where the Wizard of Light left many mysterious and rare materials. Can you please..."

Rock's eyes widened and the world slowed around him for a moment. He looked almost disoriented as he stepped closer to the painting, "Did you say… the Wizard of Light? THE Wizard of Light?"

The princess nodded, "Yes, he was here just after the kingdom was attacked and assisted us with creating defenses for the castle."

"What's wrong?" Ness wasn't sure what to make of the way Rock's mood changed.

A look of understanding reached Peach's face and then immediately melted into sympathy, "Toad, could you go ahead and show Ness to the armory, I'm sure Rock will join him shortly."

"Yes, your majesty," Toad stepped up to Ness, "Please follow me this way."

Ness looked worried as reached a hand towards Rock's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Rock forced a smile to help Ness feel better, "Don't worry about it, I'll be down in just a second."

Ness half grinned before stepping away from his friend. Toad began leading the way out so Ness followed closely. Princess Peach waved weakly as Ness descended down the stairs.

Past the room with the great clock was another doorway which led further down into a roundabout room with several branching hallways. "It's just over here," Toad opened a door into a room with gigantic mirrors. Toad reached for a torch sitting atop a decorative pedestal and twisted it several times. Ness jumped with a start as the wall opened up into a secret room.

Toad walked in and motioned to the chests in the room, "Pick a box, its contents will help you on your way."

"Thank you," Toad stayed back as Ness looked around the room. He peaked Inside the boxes and found swords and gauntlets and spikes and reams of fabric.

Ness got caught up looking through things and didn't hear clanking footsteps approaching, "All of these weapons were here this entire time…"

"Luigi," Ness jumped back, still unsure what to make of the man.

Luigi entered and held his hand over one of the gauntlets as if he were sensing it, "I see, these aren't just normal pieces of armor, they're magically imbued. These could turn the tides of many a battle. Most definitely left here by The Wizard of Light."

Overcoming a bit of apprehension, Ness asked, "Who is The Wizard of Light?"

Luigi pulled his hand back from the gauntlet and shook his head, "He is a sage from a far off land. If not for him we would have been unable to defend what small portions of our kingdom are still under our control outside the castle."

"He sounds pretty great," Ness bit his lip as he rubbed his hand over a soft cloth.

"FOOL!" Luigi pulled Ness's hand from the fabric.

"I'm sorry!" Ness took a quick step back but saw the look on Luigi's face soften.

"Don't touch an item within this room without knowing what it does," Luigi pointed out a large sword with intricate symbols etched into the blade, "As I said, these items are magical, an armory such as this could win wars."

Not fully understanding, Ness looked to Luigi with confusion, "Then why don't you use these weapons to fight back the empire?"

Luigi sighed, "I was unaware that this room even existed, and without knowledge of how such things work I wouldn't dare touch them either." he glanced almost menacingly at Toad who gulped but remained where he stood, "Though if the Princess withheld knowledge of this room from me for so long then it can only be for one reason."

"What's that?" Ness asked curiously.

"The Wizard of Light intended for these items to be used by someone else…" Luigi crossed his arms and began to leave the room.

"Wait, please," Luigi stopped but didn't turn around to face Ness. "Umm… I'm sorry if this is none of my business, but how hard has it been? Fighting the empire?"

Luigi sighed and slowly looked over his shoulder at the boy, "It's like fighting a plague. They come without warning, strike hard and fast, their warriors are some of the strongest in the world. And once they have brought the people to their knees they convince them that subjugation is what's best for them."

Ness's mouth dropped, "That's… and that's what's happening in Eagleland right now."

Luigi nodded, "You have my condolences." Again Luigi began to leave.

"I'm going to stop them!" Ness shouted before Luigi got far.

Luigi turned again, "And I hope you do, with all my being I hope you do." The clanking footsteps continued on, echoing down the stairs, and then were gone.

Ness looked over the weapons again, this time being more careful not to touch anything.

"Would you look at this?" Ness grinned as he heard Rock's voice at the entrance. He turned and saw his friend looking normal again.

"Pretty cool huh?" Ness pointed to the trunk of weapons.

"Yeah," Rock reached for the gigantic sword with the etched markings in its blade.

"Luigi said we should be careful!" Ness tried to warn but Rock reached in and lifted the sword up in front of him. The symbols on the blade began to glow and then the blade lit into plasma like flames.

The light the sword gave off reflected in Rock's eyes as he looked as though he was remembering something. He grinned and swung the sword to the side, "Yeah, these will help us out a lot." The sword returned to normal and Rock put it down as if it hadn't just been hot enough to melt iron.

"How'd you do that?" Ness held his hand over the blade and couldn't feel any residual heat radiating from it, as if it had cooled instantly.

"Don't worry, I can teach you how some of these work, we'll have to come up with some good weapons to use while we train with swords too," Rock looked over the cloth and grinned, "And we need some protection, Toad, is there a tailor in the castle?"

Toad nodded, "My mentor Toadsworth, the caretaker of this castle, is very skilled in multiple crafts."

"That's great," Rock held the cloth out to Toad, "then if we could get some help crafting these materials into clothes and armor we'd be very greatful."

"Of course, I'll let him know right away," Toad took the fabric from Rock, "I should also show you to some rooms where you can stay until you're ready to depart. Please follow me." Toad led the way to the other side of the second floor hallway, "This is the guest wing, no one has stayed in quite sometime so I apologize for the dust, I'll clean it up right away. You can stay in the first two rooms on the left."

"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Ness noticed Rock spoke with a formality beyond his normal speech.

Ness and Rock helped Toad clean the rooms quickly and then settled in for the evening. The guest rooms were mostly open spaces. An intricate canopy bed against one wall and a large wooden armoire across from it. A small desk with a brass oil lamp was beside an open bay window. Ness wore a set of pajamas that had been found for him while sitting alone on the bed and stared around the empty room. Though he was originally quite charmed by the castle, the wide empty space had started to feel lonesome. He fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, "I wonder how Ninten is doing…"

The bed was plush and soft, but somehow Ness didn't feel comfortable as he rolled from one side to another. He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to sleep. Through the silence Ness heard a slight metal panging. At first he didn't pay much attention to it, but as it softly continued at almost random intervals his curiosity got the better of him.

Ness's bare feet set down on the carpet and and he quietly opened the door of his room while listening for the sound again. Everything was quiet for a moment but then he heard it again coming from Rock's room. Ness slowly pushed Rock's door open and peeked inside.

Rock was sitting at the desk with his back to the door. He had a hammer in his hand that he was gently tapping something with.

Ness knocked on the door, "Whatchya doin?"

"Hey," Rock pushed what he was working on aside, "I just had an idea for something and was trying to see if it would work."

"What is it?" Ness moved closer and tried to look over Rock's shoulder.

Rock showed Ness the metal disk attached to a steel cable, "It's not working right yet, but if it works then it'll be a yoyo."

"Huh?" The contraption was metal and looked more like a saw blade than a yoyo.

Rock laughed and put it back, "I'm probably just tired and not doing it right. Sorry if I kept you up. We should sleep and I'll try working on it again tomorrow."

Ness shrugged, "It's okay, I wasn't able to sleep very well anyway. This place doesn't really feel that comfortable yet."

Rock tilted his head to the side, "I guess it is kinda weird trying to sleep in a different place all of a sudden. Do you wanna stay in here?" Ness nodded quietly. "Don't worry about it, the beds are bigger than mine was back home, so there's plenty of room for both of us."

Rock motioned for Ness to help him pull back the covers before he blew out the lamp. Ness could make out Rock's outline in front of the moonlight filtering in through the window as he pulled his new tunic up and over his head and then pushed his pants to the floor. He picked them up and folded them before hanging them over the desk chair.

Ness took the right side of the bed and pulled the covers over him as Rock settled on the left.

"Are you alright Rock?" Ness couldn't help but ask.

"Of course I am, why?" Rock's smile was just barely visible in the dark.

Not sure how hard he should push for answers Ness brought up, "When we were talking to the Princess earlier, you seemed upset when she mentioned The Wizard of Light."

Rock nodded, "Sorry."

"No, it's okay," Ness fidgeted under the sheets, "It's just that I go to you whenever I'm upset and you know you can talk to me about anything too right?"

A light hearted chuckle came from the left side of the bed, "I know thanks. I'm still sorry, I don't want you to feel like I don't trust you, it's just there are some things I had to deal with before I met you that aren't easy to talk about."

Ness nodded into his pillow, "Well, if you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen."

"Thank you," Rock rolled over and pulled Ness into him.

Ness sighed in content as he wrapped his arms back around his friend, "I wouldn't know what to do if you weren't here with me. You're always there for me and I want to be there for you too."

Rock smiled over Ness's shoulder, and neither boy broke away from the other.

A few minutes of silence passed between them. Ness continued to hold on tight to his friend, his hands pulled on the smooth skin of Rock's back. He couldn't help letting the closeness get to him. Rock felt something pushing against his leg and tried to hold back a laugh but couldn't which made Ness laugh too.

"Sorry, ever since I found that crystal thing, it's like every touch makes me feel… well…" Ness tried to explain the feelings coursing through his body.

"Horny?" Rock blurted out without hesitation.

Ness couldn't help but giggle a bit, "Yeah, I guess so."

"You sure you're not just looking for excuses?" Rock teased his friend but didn't let him go.

Ness grinned mischievously as he pressed himself a bit harder against Rock, "You wanna…?"

"Yeah," Rock felt Ness's hand move from behind his back, gently over his side, and over his stomach. It pressed against his stomach muscles for a moment before moving under his shorts.

Rock sighed as Ness wrapped his hand around his stiffening penis. Ness slowly slid his hand up and down Rock's erection paying close attention the skin sliding over the ridge of the head. Rock lifted his butt off the bed enough to slide his underwear down to his knees where he was able to kick them off the rest of the way.

Ness felt Rock's hands under the covers begin to unbutton his pajamas. Ness had to let go of Rock's dick when his pajama shirt was opened up over his shoulders and pinned his arms to his sides. Both boys laughed as Ness tried to wiggle out of the shirt. Once it was off and discarded, Ness's fingertips returned to massaging Rock's erection. Rock's fingers began looking for the buttons of Ness's sleeping pants which were directly over his hardened shaft. Ness couldn't help but flex his dick against the hands as Rock fumbled with the button. Rock found two of the buttons before he started pushing the garment down Ness's legs far enough for Ness to kicked the rest of the way off his feet.

Rock's fingers ghosted over Ness's testicles and up the back of his shaft to the head. Ness closed his eyes and shuttered, "That feels really nice." Rock chuckled as he moved his fingers back down the same path.

Both boys stayed on their sides facing each other as their hands stimulated the other, up and down. The sheet on top of them kept moving from side to side with their arm motions and their breathing slowly became more rasped.

Their session was more like a game as they tried to bring the other close first. It was also all made more exciting by being in a foreign place. A place with guards who might check on them at any time.

Rock tugged on Ness faster pulling the skin forward and back. Ness squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face under Rock's chin while he tried to mimic the motion back. Their arms rubbed against each other and their legs began to entwine.

Ness unconsciously let out a moan; it was a high pitch which caused Rock to almost laugh. Ness grinned to himself but then moaned again. The feeling of someone else's hand moving back and forth from his balls to his dick excited him and was quickly bringing him close.

Rock's hips started bucking into Ness's hand so Ness reflexively gripped a little tighter. A mixture of groans and grunts filled the room for several minutes until Ness squeezed his eyes shut, his mouth opened wide and yet he almost squeaked as he ejaculated into Rock's hand. Rock watched intently as orgasm washed over Ness. The sensation building up in his groin slowly became more intense and he knew he had passed the point of no return. He bit down on his lip as Ness tugged a few more times on his shaft before he also shot his semen across Ness's arm.

Their hands finally fell away from each other but their legs staying crossed as they lied still for several minutes and simply breathed heavily while recovering from their orgasmic highs.

Ness swallowed to try and get moisture down his dry throat, "That was really awesome."

"Definitely," Rock agreed.

The two boys slid closer to each other and embraced in the darkness, not caring that they were both sticky. Exhaustion passed over Ness and his eyes grew heavy and began to close, "I'm really glad that you're my best friend."

"Me too," Rock held Ness a little tighter, "Me too."

* * *

 **End Chapter**


	6. A Proper Story

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 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Ness and Rock exited Magicant and found themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom. Not know that they had bypassed several defensive lines the two soon found themselves being chased into the royal castle of the kingdom by a man in green armor. Ness and Rock tried hiding from their pursuers but were found each time. When it finally appeared as though the two had the opportunity to escape they found themselves magically teleported by a ray of sunlight in the castle where they found the hat of the original Champion of Fire, Mario.

After climbing the stairs of the castle the two found a painting of the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom that turned out to be the actual Princess Peach who had been cursed by the Golden Empire to reside in the painting. Peach explained to Ness the legend of the elemental champions and that he has been chosen to be the new Champion of Lightning. Peach also managed to cast a spell on Mario's old hat so that it would guide them to the next Champion of Fire.

Ness and Rock were given access to a secret armory that was left behind the Wizard of Light which triggered some emotions in Rock. Ness and Rock now gear up in preparation to search for the next Champion who must join them to save the world.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 5: A Proper Story****

* * *

Ness groggily opened an eye. He immediately closed it and waited a while. When he opened it again he was a little more prepared for the light that was shining in through the window. He slowly sat up in bed, his hair was a mess and his eyes wouldn't fully open. As his mind began to register his surroundings he realized he was in the room in the Mushroom Kingdom castle that he had shared with Rock, but currently there was no one else around.

Slowly, Ness took a look around the room and noticed everything was rather still and quiet. A morning breeze was flowing in through the open window carrying a fresh scent of dew. Though it was bright outside, Ness could tell the sun was barely over the eastern mountains and shining into his room. It took Ness a few moments to reach under the blankets and find his wrinkled pajamas. He quickly slipped them on and stepped out into the hallway.

Just as the previous day, the castle hallways were empty. Ness first checked in on his own room and, after determining that it was also empty, started trekking through the castle. He wasn't sure if he should call out, but then heard a sound like something swinging on metal coming from the armory. Curiously, Ness opened the door to the armory back up and looked inside. He found Rock doing pull-ups on a bar that hung from two beams on the wall. He was moving pretty fast from a dangling position, to his head just above above the bar, and then further pushing himself up and over the bar to full arm extension. Ness watched him for a minute as he repeated the exercise at a vigorous pace. "You've been doing that for a while, huh?"

Rock stopped in mid pull and looked over his shoulder, "Oh hey, maybe a bit..." Rock dropped from the bar and grabbed a towel he left nearby to rub the sweat from his forehead.

Ness's mouth went flat as Rock dropped from the bar, "I should be training too, why didn't you wake me?"

Rock scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, after a day like yesterday I thought you could use more rest."

"Yeah well," Ness crossed his arms and tried to look determined, "You told me you were going to teach me how to use magical items yesterday and that we were going to start working at becoming stronger and I'm ready to start."

Rock closed his eyes and smiled at his friend, "With an attitude like that you'll pass me in no time. First thing, let's get you some better clothes before someone sees you."

"I guess PJs aren't the best thing to work out in," Ness agreed.

"That and you can totally tell you didn't sleep in them from the way their wrinkled up," Rock grinned causing Ness to blush at the insinuation. With Ness in better clothes Rock began pushing to see what Ness could do from lifting weights to running to climbing. The two spent several hours going through exercises that were rigorous to Ness, but he could also tell that Rock was holding back so he could keep up. He didn't like it but vowed to keep pushing harder.

Once Rock had a baseline for Ness's abilities he found him a wooden sword and explained the basics on how to use one. The two were parrying and striking back and forth. Rock would sidestep and twist his sword sending Ness tumbling but the younger boy continued to push himself back and try again.

The two were at it for several hours, and Ness was definitely picking up the basics when there was a knock and the door opened, "A-hem, pardon the intrusion," Ness and Rock looked up finding an elderly man with a bushy mustache standing in the doorway of the armory, "Terribly sorry, my name is Toadsworth, the caretaker of this castle, and I have received direction by the

princess to assist the two of you in any way possible. I've already been told by my apprentice that you are in need of new garments suitable for adventure."

Ness bowed courteously to the man, "Yes sir, thank you, my name is Ness."

Rock shook the man's hand next, "And I'm Rock, we found material here that we wanted to have used in our equipment but are in need of a weaver and leather worker."

"You're in luck as I am well accomplished in these and many crafts," Toadsworth sniffed at the air, "It appears as though the two of you have been working quite a sweat today, why don't we have a bath prepared for you and then I will get to work."

"That sounds great, thank you," Ness and Rock followed the old man out and through another hallway.

Toadsworth led them to the large guest bath, "I believe you'll find the baths here quite refreshing, the water is pumped from an underground hazy maze cave and then heated over a lethal lava pit."

"Sounds amazing," Rock indulged the man with a grin garnering a laugh.

"Hohoho, there's a reason this man continues to be spry in his old age." Toadsworth made sure the bath was filling before turning to leave, "I'll return shortly to take your measurements."

"Thank you," Ness and Rock began to shed their sweat soaked clothes as the door shut.

Rock was the first to lower himself into the large sunken bath, "Wow, he was right, the water is really hot, this is awesome!"

A little more excited now that it had Rock's approval, Ness sank in on the opposite side, "It is hot, and there isn't even a fire under the tub."

"Yeah, you've never seen a hot spring huh?" Ness shook his head to Rock's question, "If they've got an underground lava pit then that's basically the same principal here, some kind of mineral water that's heated through geothermal ducts and then pumped up to the castle."

Ness grinned as Rock once again explained everything, "See, you even know how that works!"

Rock tilted his head, "What, about hot springs?"

"I mean everything," Ness leaned back against the warm tiles, "You always seem to know what's going on, you know how to fight with swords even though I had never seen you use one before, and you even know how to use magical items when Luigi was scared to even touch them."

"Oh... that kind of everything..." Rock looked down as he thought his words through, but his expression remained cheerful, "You know I only moved to Onett less than three years ago."

"Yeah," Ness replied, "You were quiet at first too, but you became a lot friendlier after you started hanging out with Ninten and me."

Rock sunk a bit into the water, his downcast face created a shadow over his eyes. Ness noticed the change in attitude and became quiet as he realized Rock was about to say something serious, "Things were rough before I met you."

"How rough?" Ness gulped.

"I..." Rock tried to keep a brave face as he continued, "was drafted into a war."

It took a moment for Ness to process what Rock said, "Drafted? But you were only twelve when we met, how could you have been...?"

"Things were bad," Rock looked off like he was remembering difficult things, "Some terrible villains joined forces and threatened many different countries. There were so few warriors left and the enemy was on the verge of winning so a state of emergency was called and the draft age was dropped to seven."

"How could they lower it so much?! You were only seven?!" Ness asked astonished.

Rock nodded, "Well... for special cases that they thought could help the war effort. Mostly what they wanted was access to my father. He's a smart guy you know, but he didn't want to make magical weapons even though everyone knew he could, he just needed enough motivation to do it."

Understanding flashed in Ness's eyes, "If you had to fight in the war, then he'd have to make magical weapons to help you."

"That's how it was," Rock smiled a bit sadly.

Ness hung his head understanding how painful it must be for Rock to think about such things, "And that's why you know how to use magical weapons."

"Bingo," Rock pointed his finger like a gun making a slight splash in the water, "Now you're getting it."

"I'm sorry," Ness shook his head, "We've been best friends for years and I never knew something so major about you."

Rock frowned and slowly moved closer to Ness so he could wrap his arm around Ness's

shoulder, "There was no way you could have known, and you don't need to worry about me, I can deal with it no problem."

Ness wasn't sure if he should push it or not but decided while he had Rock talking he should, "Then what happened yesterday when the princess brought up The Wizard of Light?"

Immediately Rock sighed and Ness wondered if maybe he shouldn't have brought it up, "My father has been called a lot of things; a great doctor, a powerful wizard, Doc Tom, Doctor Xavier, but back home he's known as Doctor Light."

Ness's mouth hung open, "So The Wizard of Light...?"

"Is my dad," Rock confirmed.

"So when the princess mentioned him, you were upset because..." Ness tried piecing the last bit together.

Rock's eyes closed as his head tilted up, "Yesterday wasn't the first time I've seen these exact same weapons. He left all these weapons that I'm familiar with here on purpose so that means he knew we'd come here; he knew everything would happen the way it did. He calculated and expected all of this as far back as two years ago. I guess I just let it get to me that he has this big plan going on that I'm a part of but have no idea where it's going yet."

Ness nodded finally understanding Rock's struggle. As much as he always seemed like he was in control and knew what was going on and where he was going he was still just barely keeping up with his father's shadow which must have been maddening. Worse yet he couldn't even really be upset at his father because his actions were put in place to help them.

Ness's arm moved up Rock's back and returned the half embrace Rock still had on him as he leaned his head on his best friend's shoulder, "You're not just some pawn in someone else's game."

Water in the tub swished as Rock turned his head and looked slightly afraid after Ness's words, "What?"

"You're not your father's pawn in this game he's playing, he may be a few steps ahead of everyone else which does help us for sure, but we're still going to do things our way. You're my best friend, guardian, all that stuff, and... you're amazing, and a hero. Not because of your dad but because of who _you_ are."

Rock blinked a few times feeling perplexed by Ness but finally smiled and wrapped Ness in both his arms, holding him tight for a minute, "Thank you, I'm really glad that if I had to be teamed up with someone that it was you."

Ness smiled back and the two remained locked together for a moment.

"Oh my," Ness and Rock looked up as Toadsworth was once again at the doorway, "I just thought I'd check on you two, I have the materials ready to craft your new equipment and only need your measurements."

The two boys slowly separated from their position in the tub, "Alright, that's cool."

Toadsworth held up a strand of measuring tape, "Who wants to be first?"

Rock motioned with his head towards Toadsworth, "I'll let you be first."

"Umm… sure," Ness reached over for his towel to provide himself some cover before standing.

"Don't worry about that, I can get more accurate measurements as you are," Ness nodded at the man's assurances and climbed out of the large tub with only a slight blush on his face. "Now hold your arms straight out at your sides," Ness stood with his arms out as instructed.

The man pulled out a tape measurer and first pinched it around Ness's chest, "I've heard rumors that you're quite the accomplished lightning caster? Enough to knock out General Luigi and his best men."

Ness nodded nervously as the tape moved to measure his arms, "I'm best with lightning magic, yes. I got lucky against Luigi though, he was standing in water at the time."

"Hoho! Absolutely shocking! Flex your arm please," Ness wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a joke but flexed his muscle as asked so his biceps could be measured.

"I get the strong inclination you're going to be growing some more musculature quite rapidly if what I hear is true and you're planning on venturing across the continent in search of the remaining elemental champions," Toadsworth finished with Ness's arm and pushed it back out of the way before wrapping the tape around his waist.

"That would be nice I guess…" Ness shivered as the tape and fingers grazed against his back.

"Oh you will, believe me, the heroes of this Mushroom Kingdom, the brothers Mario and Luigi, they were scrawny little things when they first arrived… well… Luigi was a bit scrawny, Mario might have been a bit filled out in his youth I dare say, hoho... but I'd wager it was around your age when they grew into fine warriors." Toadsworth wrapped the tape around Ness's upper thigh, "I believe they each went through three or four sets of clothes and armor within a year's time as they became more proficient in swordplay and combat. So I will leave your new garments with a little extra room to grow into in several strategic locations." Toadsworth moved around in front of Ness as he measured his leg length, "Oh my."

Ness looked down and blushed as he noticed what the man had seen. It didn't help as he heard Rock snickering from the tub, "My friend is a little touch sensitive I'm afraid."

Toadsworth chuckled but didn't seem too phased, "Hoho. That's quite alright, nothing to worry young chap, t'only means you're a healthy young man. It gives us the opportunity to take this measurement into account as well so we can be assured there will be room in the trousers for when that happens out in the field."

"I… guess that's a good thing…" Ness chastised himself internally for even saying such a thing while Rock snickered quietly from the tub.

"Indeed, I may not look like it now, but I have quite fond memories of youthful rambunctiousness," Toadsworth removed his tape and stood as Ness lowered his arms, "All done, apologies for the intrusion but I will have your wardrobe completed shortly."

"Thank you sir," Ness bowed courteously as Toadsworth turned to Rock.

"Not a problem at all, go ahead and finish up and we'll measure your friend next," Ness turned to finish rinsing off while Rock unabashedly climbed out. Ness had to mentally admire his best friend. He understood now why Rock was in good shape as well as a good fighter. Being sent off to war at such a young age would force that on you. Rock remained stoic while being measured and maybe showed off a bit when he knew Ness was looking.

"Excellent," Toadsworth scribbled the final measurement down, "I'll get to work right away, though it may take a few days to complete. I don't normally work with such fine materials and I want to be sure your new attire is ready to stand with you through the challenges ahead. Though it may not be much at the moment, please enjoy what hospitality we can offer you in the meantime."

"Thank you so much," Both Ness and Rock bid the man as he left the bathroom.

The two boys were drying off when Rock laughed again. Ness wasn't sure what was funny, "What?"

Rock tried to stay quiet for a moment, but quickly gave up, "It's just such a relief that your pants are being designed with a _strategic location_ for a certain growth!"

Ness blushed as Rock kept giggling to himself. Ness composed himself and crossed his arms, "Yup, and you may end up wishing your pants came with that feature after a few times."

"Hey," Rock put his hand to his chest, "I have self control unlike some people."

"It's not my fault… It's that crystal thing..." Though at first Ness seemed to be looking for excuses, he eventually gave Rock an evil grin and gestured his hand up and down, "And besides I know you do it _at least_ once a day without any excuse at all!"

Rock rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Come on, you need to learn how to use enchanted items next."

The tone between the two immediately shifted to one of determination and readiness. Rock taught Ness the basics of identifying different forms of enchantments, runes, and incantations on items and how to activate them. Over the next few days Ness continued training with magic, swords, and different enchanted items Rock let him use.

Ness pushed himself hard, refusing to laze about the castle. He got up early with Rock and pushed the limits of his body, mind, and soul. The sun was barely rising in the morning as Ness was sprinting over the hills beyond the castle. He jumped off the top of a steep hill and rolled into a landing before springing back up and launching several lightning bolts from his hands to take out the targets Rock had set up the day before. A tree at the bottom of another steep hill signified the end which Ness still had to quickly climb and then leap from the top of the tree to the castle grounds.

Ness's feet hit the ground and a series of clapping caught him by surprise, "Keep up that kind of effort and perhaps you could stand a chance."

"General Luigi," Ness gulped as the man approached with his two highest ranking guards beside him. "You were watching?"

Luigi nodded, "You've only had three chances to run this kind of gauntlet training and each day you've gotten better and faster than I would have expected in such a short time. If you can keep up that level of improvement…"

Ness had a look of surprise from Luigi's compliment.

"Make no mistake," Luigi almost immediately took a step back, "I'm not praising your current level. Mario used to run similar training gauntlets in these fields and last I saw him he would have wiped the floor with you and your abilities… as they are now."

"Umm… okay." Ness scratched his head, "So…"

Luigi sighed and took a deep breath before continuing, "I apologize, I've had to keep strong since… well… I leave today for the front and only wanted to wish you both well on your travels."

Ness smiled, "Good luck to you too."

Luigi actually gave Ness a salute, "The path ahead will be difficult, but we're counting on you." The uncomfortable expression didn't leave Luigi's face as he untied a leather pouch from his belt, "You will need this…"

Ness was unsure what was going on as Luigi handed the pouch to him. With no further explanation, Ness opened the pouch and pulled out a thin case. It opened to reveal a red crystal shard, similar to the one he'd found on Mt. Itoi, "This is…"

"I found it, almost immediately after Mario disappeared," Luigi explained, "I've held onto it for years now, but the new Champion of Fire is the one who will need it most…"

Somehow Ness understood the sentimental significance Luigi had placed on this item and intrinsically knew it was not so simple to just hand it over, "Thank you."

Luigi nodded as he turned and walked away with his soldiers still close behind. Ness grinned to himself and returned to the castle.

As he walked back to his room he noticed Rock's door was open and Toad was inside helping Rock organize his weapons while he tried on his clothes. Rock's pants were two toned, with a light grey cloth from his waist to just above his knees, a different charcoal cloth to his feet, and dark leather knee pads and side guards at his hips. He had a tan colored muscle shirt on while he was buckling a set of leather cross belts. "What do you think?" Rock showed off to Ness, "They know how to weave here!" He had a pair of black leather mid top boots nearby, and a blue jacket with dark leather shoulder and elbow guards.

Ness felt the material on Rock's jacket "It looks cool, but it feels light, is it gonna be okay if we're rough with it?"

"This material is quite special and exotic," Toad explained, "Most of the material is an extremely durable weave of sylphic cotton and thunder wool which both resists elemental magic spells and amplifies electrical charges. The leather is thunder sheepskin which is an amazing insulator and resists cutting and piercing almost entirely. I'm unsure where the Wizard of Light was able to acquire such a large amount of these materials."

Rock chuckled, but didn't say any more.

There was a knock on the open door behind Ness as Toadsworth entered, "Good morning Master Ness, I was taking your new garbs to your room when I heard your voice in here." Toadsworth placed the clothes on Rock's bed.

Ness looked over the tightly woven light blue pants, brown leather boots, a loose white short sleeved tunic top with black hems, and a purple mantle and tabard with brown leather shoulder guards.

"I also took the liberty of repairing your hat," Toadsworth set the purple bycocket hat over the tabard. "I hope you don't mind."

"Thank you," Ness picked up the hat and ran his hand over the brim. It was the same hat but felt stiffer and there was a new vibrant feather on it. Ness quickly dressed and looked himself over in the mirror.

"Not bad," Rock stopped to check Ness out as well, "Oh, and I finished this for you."

Ness turned around as Rock held a what looked like a metal yoyo in his hand, "What's that for?"

"You'll need to be careful with it, but watch this," Rock flicked his wrist and Ness could tell he was activating a magical enchantment as he threw the yoyo down hard.

Ness watched as the yoyo travelled down its cord, the further it went the bigger it grew and then formed serrated blades along its edges, "Whoa!" Once the yoyo hit the end of the cable it began to spin with the blades spinning like twin buzz saws. Rock tugged on the cord and recalled the weapon allowing for the blades to retract and the disks to shrink before returning to its normal size by the time it returned to his hand.

"That was awesome," Ness watched in amazement as Rock placed the yoyo in his hand.

Rock made sure the ring was adjusted as he slid it on top of Ness's knuckles, "I thought since you were always playing with that wooden yoyo that this would make a good sub weapon for you until you get better with swords."

"For sure!" Ness excitedly examined the weapon more closely.

"The reason it's metal," Rock grinned as he pointed out, "is that it's very conductive; if you were to cast a lightning spell through it you could probably get some interesting effects. Just a thought."

Ness looked as though he liked the idea as he hung the yoyo off his belt. Rock had quite a few weapons hanging off of his own belts and of course the huge sword on his back that could light itself on fire.

All their weapons were secure as Rock grinned at Ness, "So what direction is Mario's cap pulling us in?"

Ness held the cap up with his hand under the brim and the cap indeed pulled in a certain direction, "That way, southeast I think."

Rock nodded, "Then we've got a long trek ahead of us, we better get going."

Toadsworth looked worried, "There is not much in that direction, arid wastelands, strong winds, and desolate dunes, we've come to call the area The Mushroomy Desert. I'd strongly recommend taking routes around the desert if at all possible."

Rock put his hand up to his chin in thought, "The routes that go around the desert, what lands do they cross through?"

A deep sigh came from Toadsworth, "They cross through lands heavily patrolled by the Golden Empire."

"Twelve of one, a dozen of another…" Rock thought for a moment longer. "I think we'd be better off keeping our distance from anything empire related for now but what do you think Ness?"

Ness nodded in agreement, "Yeah I'd rather not have to deal with those empire guys for a while."

"I must warn you," Toadsworth spoke again, "There are creatures that roam the desert, vile things that will make passage extremely unsafe."

"Thanks," Rock smiled to the old man, "But we're going to be facing some danger no matter what we do, at least this way we may have a chance to get some more practice in before we have to deal with anything really bad."

Toadsworth gulped to himself but nodded, "Very well, we have some old maps of the desert which may help you find a few shelters along your way. And please take these packs with all the supplies we can spare." Toad carried in two large backpacks filled with food, water containers, and emergency supplies.

"You've been so kind!" Ness grinned as he looked through the bag, "Thank you."

"I truly wish we were in a position to offer you more…" Toadsworth sighed, "Only a few years ago we would have backed you up with heroes and a grand army, now we are reduced to this…"

Rock put a hand on the elderly man's shoulder, "We'll be fine on our own, it'll be easier to stealth around the empire this way believe me. And soon things will start to go back to how they once were, you'll see!"

"Our hopes go with you," Toad waved as the two boys began to leave the castle.

The boys bid farewell to the Princess, Toadsworth, and everyone else they'd come to know at the castle before setting out. Across the bridge, and over a hill and already the castle was falling into the background. Ness looked over his shoulder at the remains of the Mushroom Kingdom, "I'm glad we ended up here first, despite it being a little scary in the beginning, everyone here turned out to be really great. I sure hope we can come back and help them someday."

Rock grinned, "You can count on it!"

Ness psyched up along Rock as they continued walking on, "So are we going to keep up our training while travelling?"

Rock couldn't help but smile at Ness's eagerness, "I figure we'll walk until we get to one of the

shelters Toadsworth marked on the map and then see how tired we are once we get there."

"Sounds good!" The two boys cheerfully bantered as they trekked through the outskirts of The Mushroom Kingdom. Soon the trees and foliage became sparser as they entered a small savannah and from there it became obvious only dirt and sand would lie ahead. Entering the desert with the sun high in the sky almost immediately ceased all conversation between the two. The effects of losing the canopy of trees was immediately felt by both boys.

Rock dropped his backpack and slid his arms out of his jacket. "There's a breeze but I can barely feel it through this thing," He slid his backpack over his shoulders again and held his jacket over his head to make himself some shade. Ness decided it looked like a good idea and pulled off his Tabard and mantle to shield his face from the sun as well.

The dunes went on for hours. If it weren't for the sun it would have been impossible to tell which direction was which. The two climbed over another dune as Rock gauged the map.

Ness was obviously fatigued, his shirt soaked with sweat and his pace several steps slower than it had been, "I need a break…"

Rock nodded, "We both do, but stopping in the sun isn't going to help us much." He looked up at the sun still high in the sky and around to the sides, "If I'm reading this right, then there should be an outpost just another mile or two that way."

"Mile or two… that's not bad right…" Ness took a deep breath and tried to keep up.

The two walked across two more dunes and then while standing at the top of one made out what looked like a brown brick structure with a torn flag fluttering on a tall pole in front of it.

Both boys smiled as Rock pointed toward it, "That's it! Come on!" With their goal in sight they found their second wind and pushed themselves toward the shelter.

One last tall dune separated them from their goal. Ness hopped over the top and slid down the steep drop to other side. Rock joined him in the sprint and the two rushed past the flagpole and through the slightly buried entrance. Enough sand had piled up inside the outpost that it was obvious there was much less headroom than there had once been. Caring only that he was in a slightly cooler shade and away from the burning sun, Ness pulled off his soaked shirt and collapsed on the sand to catch his breath.

Rock set his pack down with a little more care before he sat beside Ness and slowly recovered from the long trek.

After several minutes of lying sprawled out on the ground, Ness reached over and poked his friend, "How much farther does this desert go on for?"

Rock took a few more breaths before laying back on the ground next to Ness, "Far…"

Ness blinked a few times while staring at the ceiling, "Like how far?"

A sad laugh came from Ness's right side, "If we make the same distance a day that we did today… we have about seven more days to go through this desert."

"A whole week?!" Ness's mouth hung open, "We're gonna die!"

"It'll get better," Rock assured his friend, "These old outposts are spread out pretty equally along the desert, and you're used to cooler mountain temperatures still. After a few days out here it won't feel so bad anymore."

Ness's head hit the sand again as he groaned in displeasure.

"At least it's a lot cooler in here," Rock put a hand up and felt the breeze coming through the broken windows, "Deserts like this are super hot in the sun, but once you're in the shade it's much cooler."

Ness slowly opened his eyes and looked around the fort. The brown brick structure was pretty sparse, it had definitely been abandoned for some time.

"We're going to have to change up how we travel," Rock licked at his dry lips, "It's too hot out here to travel during the middle of the day, we'll be better off getting to sleep early so we can start walking before the sun rises and make as much distance as we can before it gets hot."

"Sounds good to me," Ness agreed.

Once the heat exhaustion had passed, the two explored the fort a bit more. There was a second floor to the fort that wasn't buried as badly as the first floor, "This should be a good place to stay for the night."

Ness agreed as he looked through cabinets for anything useful that might have been left behind, "What's this?"

Rock stepped up behind Ness and looked at the odd cube in the cabinet, "That thing's got some strong magic in it, I can feel it…" Rock put his hand over it to try and decipher what it was, "It feels like it's some kind of earth spell, but of course the only clue we get is someone childishly wrote POW on it."

Ness grunted as he lugged it up off the ground, "Should we bring it with us?"

Rock shook his head, "It's too heavy, it would be exhausting trying to carry that thing everywhere."

The block was put aside as the two prepped their rations for dinner and practiced with more magical weapons before bed. From the outside, the windows of the old fort gave off brilliant colors of light and sounds every few minutes until the sun sank below the horizon and all became quiet.

Several hours into the darkness Ness woke up. It had still been warm as he fell asleep, but he found himself shivering in the cold of the night, "This is crazy!"

Ness pulled his mantle over his arms to try and act as a blanket, but the bite of the low temperature was still more than he expected. Ness curled up on his side to try and conserve as much heat as he could. He was still uncomfortably chilled when arms wrapped around him from behind, "Huh?"

"You're cold," Rock stated plainly.

"Well yeah…" Ness gulped.

Rock seemed to still be half asleep as he pulled Ness closer to him. Ness was about to protest but quickly realized it was warmer huddling up this way. Ness went ahead and pushed himself back into Rock as Rock pulled his jacket over the both of them. Rock gripped tightly onto Ness as he fell back to sleep. Ness stayed awake for a short time longer; he could feel Rock's breath gently blowing against the back of his neck and their legs entangled. His eyes closed as he felt warm and safe.

Some time later Ness could feel something strange almost tickling the bottom of his bare foot.

"Ness…" a voice whispered softly in his ear. It was quiet but there was some urgency in the voice, "Ness… you need to wake up."

Slowly Ness's eyes opened and Rock's hand moved from his chest to his mouth. "Mmm?" Ness quietly muffled out.

"Shhh…" Rock whispered again, "Don't make any sudden moves or noises…"

Ness's eyes widened as he noticed what looked like a gigantic beetle at their feet, it's beak dangerously close to their legs. The beetle was at least five feet long and had a thick black shell but was a light reddish brown under it.

Once Ness was aware of the situation and calm he felt Rock's hand loosen up. Without turning his head Ness whispered, "What do we do?"

"There are more of them behind us," Rock whispered back, "At least two of them between us and our gear. We're going to have to get our stuff but I don't know how aggressive they might turn when they notice us, so be ready."

Ness nodded as the mandibles were getting closer, almost as if it was sniffing them out.

"Slowly, let's stand up, try not to make much noise…" As carefully as they could, the two pulled their feet away from the beetle which then snapped its mandibles in their direction causing them to jerk slightly. The other beetles in the room stopped what they were doing and looked in their direction.

"Are they…?" Ness gulped finally noticing that there were quite a few of the gigantic beetles in the fort now. From under the shell one of the beetles started buzzing loudly. A second beetle then mimicked the buzzing sound and then it spread to most of the beetles in the room.

"I get the feeling that's not a good sound…" Rock bit his lip and then the closest beetle charged forward.

Ness pointed his hand at the beetle, "Thunder!" A loud crack of thunder rumbled the fort as a bolt of lightning shot out from Ness's hand and hit the beetle. The electricity hit dead on and deflected around the shell in several smaller bolts. The beetle stayed still for a moment as the crackling passed but then continued pushing forward.

"It resists magic!" Rock pushed Ness out of the way as the beetle lunged in with its mandibles.

"What do we do?!" Ness looked around the room trying to assess the situation as the other beetles were charging in as well.

"We need some weapons!" Rock ran toward the two beetles between him and his equipment. The beetles tried to lunge at him once he was close enough but Rock jumped over their mandibles and rolled across their shells. Rock's weight on top of the beetle pushed it to the ground and immediately it retreated into its shell. Rock didn't stop until he rolled past the monsters and grabbed his sword and metal blades from the ground. Immediately Rock unsheathed the flame sword and it ignited into a burning blade. The inside of the fort lit up in flickering red and orange as Rock swung at the nearest beetle. An echoing clang signified the sword made contact, but Rock found his sword had sliced into the shell of the beetle as any sword should have done, but the magical fire was dissipating around the shell, "Oh shit…"

Rock put a foot up against the shell of the beetle and flipped himself back to pull his sword out from where it had become slightly embedded.

Ness was nearby gathering his things. As a beetle approached him he swung his Yoyo at it. The blades expanded to a giant size, and as Rock had suggested he channeled his lightning magic through it causing it to glow brightly and crackly wildly with bolts of energy as Ness swung it around. The beetles stayed back when the yoyo swung too closely, but their shells were still able to dissipate the effects if they were hit just as before.

The two boys were able to hold the beetles off for each other long enough that they had all their gear, but more beetles were coming up the stairs.

"Out the window?" Ness suggested.

They took a look out the window and noticed dozens more beetles converging on the fort, "Not gonna work."

Ness grit his teeth as he swung his yoyo at a few other beetles, "They're gonna get us eventually if this keeps up! We need to…" Ness's voice trailed off as if he thought of something.

The flame sword also only scared the beetles back but did no real damage on contact, "We need to what?" Rock turned and saw Ness pushing his way through a group of buzzing beetles, "NESS!"

"I got an idea!" Ness was holding three of the beetles at bay when a fourth one lunged at him from another direction, "Whoa!"

Rock had taken a running leap and came down hard over the beetle causing it to retreat into its shell, "Alright, let's do it!"

Ness smiled as he ran to the shelf he remembered from earlier.

Rock drove his sword forward but one of the beetles caught the blade in its beak. Rock began pushing and pulling to get his sword back but beetle was insistently holding onto it. Rock exposed his teeth and grunted as he put his boot up against the beetle and pulled his sword back until it let go. Rock flipped over backwards and landed besides Ness, "Hurry!"

Ness rummaged through the cabinet for a few moments and hurriedly dragged the block out from its resting spot, "Okay! Let's see what a POW can do!" With a grunt of effort, Ness tossed the block across the room.

Both boys watched as the block began to glow while it fell through the air. Rock felt the magic emanating from the cube built up immensely, "Oh crap!" Ness had no time to resist as Rock grabbed onto his hand and forcefully dragged him to a window before jumping out. The two were falling from the fort when a massive shockwave overtook them. The shockwave tore through the area with so much force that it flipped every beetle upside down from the initial blast. Then everything started to quake.

Before Ness and Rock hit the ground, it was as though the entire desert shifted and then split open. The fort lifted, tilted sideways, and then fell into a giant chasm that had opened in the earth. The two boys hit the ground in a roll only moments before the ground beneath them gave way and fell into the pit as well. Rock grabbed onto the new ledge with one hand and held onto Ness with the other.

Neither boy had much time to contemplate what had happened as the ground Rock was gripping to then fell as well and both boys plunged downward into darkness.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Nintentrash drew Plan: B Ness all decked out in fantasy clothes! Check out the cover art to see it! Also check out more of his art on DeviantArt and Tumblr, a lot more awesome Ness and Lucas to be found there! Links can be found on my Tumblr.

Sorry for taking even longer than normal to post this chapter. My laptop got smashed up by TSA while traveling and has made it a little difficult find both time and easy access to a computer. I have so many projects to work on but keep working on this more than anything so hopefully that's a good thing. I have a few friends who are demanding I focus more on one project at a time, so we'll see if that means we get somewhere good.

For anyone who's never played Super Mario 64 I apologize for all the strange references to areas around the castle. For the Mario players out there I hope I'm doing a good job with the twisted details of The Mushroom Kingdom.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review/comment, and feel free to message me on any of social media thingy.

'Til next time!


	7. Creeping Through the Sewers

Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Rock began training Ness to better use his powers as well as magical items that would be beneficial in the quest they were about to embark on to unite the new champions of the elements. The Mushroom Kingdom, though battered and war torn, equipped the two with what supplies they had at their disposal and sent them off with hope, prayers, and a map of the Mushroomy Desert.

Though at first the Mushroomy Desert proved to be a harsh climate to traverse through, the real danger did not present itself until after dark when the predators of the sand emerged. Ness and Rock awoke in the night to find themselves surrounded by buzzy beetles. The beetles shells proved to be resilient against their magic, and so in a think fast move by Ness, he reached for an unfamiliar magical artifact, a block with the word "POW" written on it, and threw it. The POW sent out a shockwave that flipped all of the creatures onto their backs, but the foundation of the old fort caved in under the stress of which Ness and Rock were unable to escape and the two plummeted into the darkness of the underworld.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 6: Creeping Through the Sewers****

* * *

Ness opened an eye and saw it was still dark. Definitely too early to get up, so he closed his eyes in order to sleep longer.

"Psst… hey… wake up dammit!" Ness felt a hand knocking on his head.

Ness looked up again at the boy standing over him, "It's too early Ninten… What are you doing?"

Ninten crossed his arms as an annoyed look washed over him, "We're going to go find out what Mr. Minch and The Sharks are hiding in their warehouse, remember?"

"Can't it wait 'til later? I'm really sore for some reason…" Ness tried rolling over but Ninten grabbed his sheets and ripped them off the bed.

"Nope, this is important for everyone, and we need to go before the sun rises!" Ness sighed as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He knew Ninten was too sold on the idea to back off.

"Alright fine, just give me a minute to get ready," Ness slowly started dressing.

"Just hurry, I'll be waiting outside," Ninten hurried out of the room to finish his final preparations.

Once dressed and ready, Ness started sauntering through the house after his cousin. He was startled when he heard, "And where do you think you're going at this hour?"

Ness jumped and turned at the sound of his mother's voice, "Don't scare me like that mom!"

His mother grinned, "A few scares makes the heart stronger. And if you're going to save the world then a strong heart is a requirement."

"Save the world?" Ness laughed, "Don't you think that's a bit much, I'd be happy if I could make our lives here just a little bit better."

Ness's mother sighed, "Did I ever tell you about the day you were born?"

"Umm…" Ness gulped looking for a way out of the conversation, "I really need to get going, Ninten is waiting…"

"I'll do everything I can for Ninten, but I can't help but worry about you," Ness's mother took a seat and looked up at him, "When you were born, you were heavy…"

Ness leaned to one side, "Gee thanks mom…"

Ness's mother laughed, "Not heavy as in fat, you were never overweight, but when you were born you were already carrying the weight of the world on you."

"What? I don't…" Ness tried to understand what she was saying.

"I didn't understand it at the time, but to be a chosen one, or even next in line to a chosen one, you were never destined to stay in this town or do anything so meager as to improve this one place."

"You're being really weird mom," Ness chuckled to himself to try and ease his own confusion.

"You just need to know, no matter where you go or how far you travel, you'll always carry a piece of home with you. I'll always be thinking of you and praying for you no matter what. There's no need to be sad or angry and don't ever feel lonely," Ness felt arms wrap around him from behind and could tell it was Ninten. Ness suddenly noticed that Tracy and Ninten's sisters were also in the room. Rock came in also and stood beside his mother as she patted him on the back, "Your friends are with you, and your family will always be behind you. Go be the strong, brave, courageous hero I know you're going to be."

Ness finally began remembering what had been going on lately, "Mom… I…" Ness sniffed as he gripped onto Ninten's arms, "I miss you… I have to save all of you!"

"Any boy would be a little homesick venturing off on their own, but you won't let that stop you. I know you'll save us and the whole world, but it's an adventure, don't forget to enjoy yourself and make new friends. That's what life is all about. And the bonds you create are what will truly bring salvation to our land."

Ness knew he was waking up, "Thanks mom, I will!" He looked over his shoulder and saw Ninten grin wide at him before he and everyone else faded away.

As Ness's real senses began to clear he became aware of the sound of running water that made him want to find a place to pee. His eyes opened again but it really was still dark. He also felt the left side of his body was really sore. Like in his dream, he felt arms wrapped around his stomach, "Ninten?"

Ness's head finally cleared as his eyes adjusted to the low ambient light. It wasn't just arms wrapped around him, he was on top of someone, "ROCK!"

Ness untangled himself and tried to assess the situation. They were obviously underground somewhere, and surrounded by the rubble of what looked like it used to be the fort they had been spending the night in. Ness finally remembered the beetle attack, he threw the POW Block, and then then they fell. Ness's eyes widened as he realized Rock must have moved underneath him to take the brunt of the fall, "DUMBASS! WAKE UP!"

Rock groaned and slowly his eyes opened, "Hey…"

A wave of relief and anger flooded through Ness, "If you _ever_ do something so stupid again…"

"Says the guy who threw a mysterious magical POW Block," Ness cringed realizing he was the one that did that.

Ness averted his gaze downward, "I'm sorry, I guess that was pretty dumb…"

"It turned out for the best, you beat the beetles, and we're both alive, can't ask for more," Rock tried sitting up but winced in pain and his hand went to his side.

Ness tried taking a closer look, "Are you alright?"

Rock nodded, "I think I might be bruised up a bit, but I'll be okay." With a little more effort, Rock pushed himself to his feet and stretched, "Yeah, ow, how far did we fall?"

Both boys looked up and could see the crevice at the top of the cavern they were in at least twenty meters up. Ness whistled at the site of the place "Yeah, no wonder that hurt. Who would have thought there'd be this huge cave right under the fort though?"

"Whoever ran that fort did at one time," Rock kneeled by a waterway that was overflowing from the rubble of the fort above, "The ground around this channel is bricked forcing the water to flow in a particular direction like an aqueduct."

The rest of the cavern was beginning to light up as the sun rose and shined down through the hole above. Ness looked around nervously at the huge underworld, "How do we get out of here?"

Rock examined the walls of the cavern they had fallen into, "Hmm… We can't climb out the way we fell in, the walls are too steep." Rock squinted his eyes to try and see where the water channel snaked off to in the dark, "Looks like the track keeps going a long way over there."

Ness pulled out Mario's hat, it tugged in the direction of the tunnel, "That tunnel is going the way we want to go, maybe this will work out and keep us out of the sun."

"That would be nice," Rock slightly limped toward the dark tunnel, "Good thing if it's light we need that I got us covered!" a ball of light formed in Rock's outstretched hand and began to float above him. The illumination made everything nearby visible at it floated over Rock's head.

"Let's take it slow for now," Ness suggested as he started walking through the tunnel at an easy pace, "just in case."

The two walked through the tunnel for over an hour without seeing anything besides brick and the channel of water along the center of the tunnel.

"I think it's opening up over there," Rock pointed out as they saw something that looked darker than the rest of the tunnel. Once their hovering light exited the tunnel with them it lit an enormous cavern. The water channel seemed to be cutting an edge through the cavern like a micro canyon joining several other underground streams that flowed in from other tunnels.

Both boys looked around the cavern in awe for a moment. Ness returned his focus to the hat which was still pulling along the same path, "I guess we keep going that way."

Rock nodded in agreement, "This is probably the point of no return, we may not be able to track our way back with the way so many water channels connect in this room. Let's hope the water eventually leads back outside."

Ness gulped nervously but kept pushing forward. The scenery started changing wildly. Strange rock formations began looking like multi leveled platforms, and other rocks formed staircases that required some climbing to get over. Ness climbed up quickly then turned to offer a hand to help Rock up.

Ness pulled himself up to a higher level quickly but almost fell into a pit that he didn't notice until Rock held him steady, "Careful!"

"Huh?" Ness's eyes widened as he looked down at the hole he almost fell backwards into.

"There are a bunch of pits up here," Rock looked over the side of one, "It would be hard to climb out of them if you fell in."

"Yeah, we'll have to watch our steps." Ness looked around at the various pits and started hopping over them in order to climb to the next platform.

Once Rock was lined up, he would kick off one ledge with his good leg and grab onto the next ledge where Ness would help him climb up, "Thanks."

Ness was becoming more concerned with the way Rock was limping around, "This is harder than we thought it was going to be, we should really find a place to rest or we're gonna end up falling into a hole and getting stuck."

Rock shook his head, "We need to try pushing for a while longer, we only have enough supplies for the week and we'll be in serious trouble if we end up stuck down here with no food."

A slight rustling sound caused Ness to look further down the cavern, "What was that?"

Rock was also on guard, "I'm not sure, I don't see anything, but that didn't sound like water flowing… Keep your guard up."

Ness nodded and tried to keep quiet as he started climbing down to the next rocks. Neither boy spoke any more as they focused on listening while moving silently. Still only the sound of water could be heard in the enormous cavern. Ness couldn't keep from shuffling the dirt under his boot as he hopped down to the bottom level but froze as a definite scurrying sound reached ears. Both boys stared towards a boulder with anticipation as the sound had definitely come from behind it.

Rock slowly slid down and stood beside Ness. They looked at each other and nodded before moving as silently as they could toward the boulder. The light Rock still had above his head moved around the side of the large stone and onto a small brown creature.

"Oh," Ness's apprehension softened, "Hey little guy, what are you doing down here?"

"Be careful Ness," Rock started looking around more frantically.

"Why?" Ness looked between the small creature and Rock, "It looks like it's just lost down here." Ness tried reaching closer to the creature to touch it as it opened its mouth and revealed many sharp fangs. It lunged at Ness's hand and chomped at him; Ness barely pulled his hand back in time, "Oh crap!"

"Yeah," Rock swatted at the creature, scaring it back slightly. It ran around the boulder and growled at them. "Small monsters like that aren't bad to deal with when they're alone."

More shuffling noises began closing in from around them, "And you when you say that it's because…"

A multitude of growls sounded off in the darkness as several more of the brown creatures stepped into the light, "Just that small, helpless looking creatures rarely are alone."

The goombas began slowly crawling forward, their mouths open revealing many sets of sharp fangs.

"Nope, nope, nope…" Ness reached for his belt and pulled out his yoyo. He tossed the metal disk causing it to spin down the cord, growing into large metal blades as it did so. It sparked with electrical current and gave off loud cracks of thunder as it spun against the ground in front of the goombas. The light show was enough to spook most of the goombas which turned and ran in other directions.

A few goombas continued pushing forward and rolled towards the boys with open mouths. Ness swung his yoyo behind his back, again it sparked with high voltage as it spun rapidly in place before he swung his arm forward causing it to release its charge as the yoyo reached the end of its range. The electrical sparks raced past the goombas and flung them back from the force of the bolts.

The remaining goombas scurried away to other hiding places.

The yoyo returned to Ness's hand as a smaller metal disk, "They're not too tough but there's a lot of them."

Rock kept a close eye on where they ran off to, "I'm worried they may regroup and try again."

"I don't suppose they get much food down here," Ness shivered at his own implications.

With an ear open for the sounds of the goombas footsteps crawling towards them, the two continued pushing forward. Every time a group of goombas began to get a little brave, Ness would hurl another lightning bolt in their direction to scare them off. Hours of exploration through the underground cavern passed and not much changed.

Another bolt and nearly a dozen goombas scurried away, "These guys are getting annoying."

Rock patted Ness on the back, "But you're still only scaring them."

"Huh?" Ness was unsure why Rock looked happy.

"You're not killing any of them," Rock clarified.

"Well…" Ness watched as two goombas ran behind another boulder, "They look vicious, but really all they do is walk around. I guess they could be trouble if they got too close, but if they run away from every crack of thunder then why would we need to kill them?"

Rock grinned to himself as he limped forward, "Yeah huh?"

Ness frowned as he watched Rock move, "I think you're limping worse than you were earlier."

"I'm fine," Rock insisted.

"No, we need to find a place to rest for the day," Ness looked around at the rocky structures in the cavern. "There," he pointed towards a high ledge on a rock formation not too far off, "If we can climb up there we should be pretty safe from these things sneaking up on us."

"Alright," Rock finally agreed and looked around and saw something out of the corner of his eye, "Look over there, is that a sack?"

"Yeah," Ness ran over and took a look. Inside the sack was a bunch of dried vines and twigs. "I think we can make a fire with these!" With those in hand the two made their way towards the rocky structure. Ness only had to scare off a few more goombas as they approached their resting spot.

The wall was steeper and higher than most of the platforms they had scaled to earlier. Ness jumped at the wall and clawed his way up, "Yeah we should be pretty safe up here." Once Ness made it to the next level, he took a look around, made sure there was enough room, and that it provided enough cover. Ness reached over the side, "This looks perfect, come on up."

Rock was a little sluggish climbing up to the gap but managed to roll himself over the ledge without his normal dignity. Rock fell back against the wall and laughed, "Don't tell anyone that I had a hard time climbing that.".

Ness was still feeling guilty that Rock wouldn't be hurt if it wasn't for him,

"Oh yeah," Rock opened one eye and smiled, "I think you're right, just needed a break for a while."

"Okay," Ness pulled off his backpack and set it aside with Rock's before pulling out the sack of dried vines and twigs.

Ness took care of setting a ring of rocks in the middle of their outcropping and threw all of the dried twigs and plant parts in the center. He reached for a flint lighter to ignite the plants.

"Wait," Rock called out from where he was sitting.

Ness looked up in worry, "What?"

Rock grinned daringly, "Don't use a lighter, use your magic."

A grumpy frown formed on Ness's mouth, "You know I'm not good with fire magic."

Rock couldn't help but chuckle, "We've never talked much about magic have we? Do you know what lightning is?"

A nervous gulp made its way down Ness's throat, "Well yeah, I mean… Lightning… it's… powerful…" Ness shook a clenched first for emphasis, "storm… stuff…"

Full laughter broke out from across the landing. Ness didn't hide the dejection from his face as Rock calmed down, "I'm sorry, I guess I just took it for granted that you understood a few things about it."

Ness sighed, "So are you gonna tell me or not?"

"Of course I am," Rock grinned as he adjusted how he was sitting, "Before you can understand lightning you have to know what an atom is. The ground, the air, even us are made of atoms which are tiny particles that you can't even see. Atoms in turn are made up of a core nucleus of protons and neutrons which are orbited by electrons. Electrical current is when electrons move between atoms. When a magnetic field causes the electric current to flow with enough excitation it becomes a plasma, or what you actually see as lightning. So lightning magic doesn't actually create plasma, it creates electrical and magnetic fields, that once powerful enough, mimics lightning. This is why a lot of people actually refer to lightning magic as energy magic."

Ness blinked helplessly a few times, "I know a little bit about atoms and molecules… kind of… but I still don't get what that has to do with starting a fire?"

Rock pulled a metallic rod from his jacket, "Lightning can start fires but it's hard to control at that level. But if you're careful with your electrical current..." Rock held the spark rod up and let it give off a few bright sparks, but he quickly brought the current under control to the point the rod only glowed with energy and heat. He pushed the tip of the metal rod into the middle of the dried plants, "...you can naturally generate heat, and heat…" The plant parts began to glow from the heat for a moment before one finally lit into a small flame, "...once past the flash point will start a fire."

"Wow," Ness watched as the pit emitted a gentle glow and little bit of heat. "I guess there's more to lightning magic than blowing bad guys away."

"Lots more," Rock grinned as he watched Ness gaze into the small flames. "If you practice control on the small scale, you'll be surprised how it can affect your more powerful offensive magic. And we haven't even gotten to magic circles!"

"I'll give it a try next time," Ness agreed. He started sniffing in the air, "Do you smell that?"

Rock scrunched his face as a strange scent reached him as well, "Yeah, it smells kind of sweet huh?"

"Yeah…" Ness looked all around then down, "It's coming from the fire."

"Really?" Rock leaned in to get a better whif, "You're right, what the heck are we burning?" Rock became slightly concerned as he looked as though he were flipping through catalogs in his head.

"I don't know, it was everything in that sack," Ness tried to help, "Mostly some vine like twigs and branches, and some other dried plants were mixed in… one was hard and red, the other was like an orange flower."

"Orange flower…" Rock shifted quickly and pulled his backpack out from behind him. His eyes widened as if a light bulb went off over his head, "Hey! That didn't hurt anymore!" Rock pulled up his shirt to take a look and saw the bruise was slowly fading away. "I normally heal pretty quick, but not that fast. Whatever plant combination we're burning must have some healing properties!"

Ness watched in amazement as Rock's bruise vanished before his eyes. He noticed he was also feeling refreshed, "That's awesome! We should get more of these!"

"Definitely, we might be able to make some potions out of them." Rock leaned over the edge of their outcropping, "The dried orange flowers have to be the legendary Fire Flowers of the Mushroom Kingdom, so that makes sense, but what the heck is the hard red plant that it mixed with?"

"Only one way to find out," Ness suggested energetically.

Rock took in another deep breath, "Let's rest a little more just in case and we'll get to it."

It was impossible to tell what time it was while underground. The boys knew the sun was just coming up when they started their walk, and that hours had passed. Though they had both planned to rest for a while, they were both feeling reenergized from their makeshift incense.

The two climbed down and continued scaring off goombas while marching further down the tunnels.

With their energy restored the two pushed on for several more hours down the tunnels of the underground while making really good time. Ness was focused on the ground ahead of him, so the sound of Rock laughing unnerved him a bit. He looked over his shoulder at his smirking friend, "What?"

"This is really cool," Rock was messing with the sack they had found their fire flower bits in earlier.

"What is?" Ness stepped back to take a look at whatever it was Rock noticed.

"Here," Rock pulled on the drawstring so Ness could see, "Look familiar?"

There was a medallion hanging off the string to the pouch. Engraved on the medallion was a familiar "M". Ness's eyes widened as he pulled out Mario's red hat that was leading them to the new champion of fire, "It's the same M!"

Rock nodded, "Yeah, we are literally on Mario's trail. Following in his footsteps."

"I wonder what he was even doing down here," Ness thought out loud as he looked further down the long tunnel, "You think Mario is pretty cool huh?"

Rock shrugged, "He's one of the most famous people alive… well… I hope he's alive somewhere. Actually, when I was a kid I heard more stories about his guardian Ryu where I came from. Ryu is one of the greatest fighters in the world, so when he became Mario's guardian I had to find out all I could about Mario too."

"And I don't know much about Ryu at all, most people in Onett called him a wandering mystery," The two carried on down the hall with their hero worshiping.

"That's probably because Ryu comes from the same land I do, even there he never talked much, but his mastery over spirit magic was unheard of." Rock held his hands to his side, "He would manifest tonnes of energy from the astral plane into his hands," Rock moved his hands forward mimicking the move, "HADOUKEN!"

"Don't normally see you so excited!" Ness laughed as he walked ahead into the next room then stopped abruptly, "Hey Rock… You know that red hard shelled plant that you didn't know what it was?"

Rock hurried in behind Ness, "Yeah, what abou…"

"Found them…" Ness and Rock blinked as the light flooded into the cavern overgrown with chomping piranha plants. Ness decided to pull out Mario's hat to orientate himself.

"Let me guess…" Rock sighed and pointed through the middle of the piranha plant patch, "That way?"

Ness felt the cap tug in his hands and then nodded, "Yup…"

Rock pulled out his sword, "If that's how it's got to be!" His sword gave off heat and light as the blade transformed into orange energy like flames.

The plants seemed to immediately take notice of the threat and turned as if to face the boys. Many of the piranha plants opened their jaws and let out a violent hiss, but others began conjuring fire within their beaks.

"Watch out!" Ness threw his yoyo at the incoming fireball and managed to dissipate it.

"Thanks!" Rock made a quick nod before running towards the first row of plants and quickly slashing at their stems. Once cut off from the roots, the piranha head appeared to fall lifeless to the ground.

Ness followed suit and flung his yoyo sideways into groups of plants chopping through them like a buzzsaw. He heard a jaw chomping just to the side of his ear which freaked him out enough to twist his body in jump and throw a lightning bolt at the plant. The bolt synged the leaves off the plant, but it seemed to shake off the effects of the electrical charge and continued chomping.

"Damn it, they're grounded!" Ness swung his yoyo to chop the plant down. "If only Ninten were here, I could make a bolt big enough to clear all these out in one shot!"

Rock jumped out of the way of a lunging chomp and ended up back to back against Ness, "I'm starting to regret going over the nuances of lightning instead of magic circles now…"

Ness used his yoyo to cancel out another fireball being hurled at them, "What about new ounces?"

"Just keep mowing'em down!" Rock took another wide swing with his flame sword, chopping down a large row of piranha plants.

From the right a piranha plant opened its jaw wide and launched a ball of needles like those from a cactus. Ness sucked in his stomach and leaned back as the ball got caught in his mantle, "Too close!"

"Keep your guard up and push up the middle!" Rock swung his large sword in wide arcs. His range with it was greater than the piranha plants could lunge.

More fireballs and thorns were spat in their direction which Ness tried to defend against.

After half an hour of extreme hedge trimming, Ness and Rock were out of breath and panting on the other side of the piranha patch. Both of them had small balls of thorns sticking to them that some of the plants had spit their way. Ness reached for one to try and pull it out but hissed and drew his hand back, "OUCH!"

Rock nodded and pulled some clips out of his bag, "It's not so bad, hold still." One by one he pulled the prickly mounds from Ness's arms and legs. Ness winced every time one was pulled out, "Almost… and there."

"Thank you," Ness sighed in relief that the thorns were finally out of his skin. Ness took the clips from Rock and helped pull a few that had gotten stuck in Rock's back out. "Oh, this is a good one," One of the thorny balls was stuck to Rock's pants just below the belt line. Ness wasted no time in gripping it with the tool and quickly yanking it out.

"YEOW!" Rock jumped and rubbed his bum where the offending object had been pulled from.

"It's not so bad, remember?" Ness grinned as he handed Rock's clips back.

"Remind me that you're also vindictive sometimes," Rock kept rubbing his sore spot as he lifted his backpack up with his other hand.

Ness picked up both his bag and Mario's old pouch which was looking completely full, "At least we got plenty of ingredients for those potions you were talking about."

Rock nodded, "Now we're only missing one thing… but we haven't seen any fire flowers anywhere."

The two carried on for a few more hours before it became apparent their pace was slowing. Ness finally asked, "What time do you think it is?"

"I have no idea, could be the middle of the night, could be early morning, we should probably find a place to camp though," Rock looked around their current cavern and picked a place to climb to.

Once the two were sure they were safe from anything that might crawl by while they were asleep, Rock cancelled out his light spell.

"Oh crap," Ness whispered, "I can't tell if my eyes are open or closed." The steady sound of water only a little ways off in the canal could still be heard. Aside from that everything was pitch black and quiet.

Rock let out an amused snort, "Should make it easier to sleep right?"

"I guess," Ness fidgeted around unable to find a comfortable position on the hard rocky floor. "It's just going to take a bit to get used to sleeping on the ground."

Another amused chuckle came from the other side of their small dugout, "We had a really long walk today, that should help knock you out soon."

"Or leave me too sore to sleep," Rock could tell that Ness's griping was all in fun.

Ness could hear the shuffling as Rock rolled onto his side, "Try and sleep at least, we've got more ground to cover tomorrow."

"Night," Ness rolled from one side, then the other. Every minute or so he'd turn to try and find a better way to lie down. Ness was definitely tired from walking all day, but he really was also sore and restless.

Ness rolled again, swishing pebbles under his feet, convinced now he wasn't going to be able to get much sleep. He sighed as he stared at nothing in the black. His ears picked up some fidgeting from Rock's side.

"Rock? Are you asleep yet?" Ness whispered into the dark.

A quiet reply came, "Nope."

"Sorry," Ness shifted again.

"Just try and relax," Ness could hear Rock take a deep breath then let it out, "Do whatever you gotta do to calm your mind and ease yourself to sleep."

Ness also tried taking in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and focused on letting everything go. It wasn't working too well and he had to roll over again.

A few more minutes of silence passed and Ness groaned into the darkness, "I still can't sleep…"

A curt laugh came from Ness's side but was quickly muffled followed by only a steady breathing.

"You gave it away that you're awake too…" Ness giggled as he tried to imagine the look on Rock's face in the dark.

"Nope, totally asleep, you're dreaming this right now," Ness could hear the grin in Rock's voice.

"Wow I have lame dreams then if I'm only dreaming in sound," Both boys tried but failed to hold back some chuckling.

"Actually…" Rock was grinning again, Ness could tell, "Sometimes the dark can make things a lot more... interesting."

"I thought you were sleeping," Ness joked.

"Oh yeah!" Rock shuffled on the ground a bit and then everything became silent once more.

Ness closed his eyes, and once again noticed there was no difference. He took in a deep breath and realized he just had to keep quiet and still long enough and hopefully, eventually, he'd get some sleep. He felt consigned to this fate when he heard a series of five soft snaps followed by a slight slide.

Again it was quiet and Ness tried lifting himself slightly to roll himself over more quietly this time. His ears then picked up Rock fumbling with something for a short moment. Again things were quiet except for their breathing. Rock's breathing was getting a little louder though. Ness wasn't paying much attention until the unmistakable sound of a slightly wet pop reached his ears, causing his eyes to open wide but still he couldn't see a thing.

On instinct, Ness tried listening more carefully. He could definitely hear the rhythmic sound of something moving slowly in the dark, with occasional wet slurps and pops. Rock took in a sharp breath and the noise grew a little bit louder, a little bit faster. Ness's couldn't help it as his heart started beating harder once he was sure what was going on beside him; he smiled as he realized this was a game in the dark he'd have to compete in.

There was another set of snaps popping open in the darkness and the sliding of cloth. Ness took in a breath through his teeth, being just a little louder than Rock as if to signal that he was all in.

From one side of the darkness came a deep breath, a spitting sound, and three wet slips. From the other side the same pattern followed, a deep breath, a spit, and three slow slips. From the first side came another six rapid slips, then six from the other side as if creating a game of simon. Three quick slips, a pause, then four slow slips and a slight grunt. From the other end of the darkness came three quick slips, the pause, then an ongoing mash of at least twelve slips and a grunt. Laughter ensued from the darkness as the first game was abandoned.

Again the sound of a spit came from one side, followed closely by the same sound on the other and then indistinguishable fast slipping sounds and many wet pops came from both sides. Two sets of heavy breathing joined in the chorus that began to hitch erratically.

The slipping sounds were purposefully getting louder, trying to overtake the other in a new game of making the most noise only using wet hand motions. With only the sound of quickened breathing and fast stroking pops, the two had managed to compete with the noise generated by the nearby flowing stream.

"Mmmmm…" Ness couldn't help but let out. Somehow only listening to what Rock was doing, but knowing he was doing it right next to him had excited him more than he thought it would. There was something about this game that made him imagine that Rock was feeling what he was feeling. That Rock was feeling just as good as he was. That maybe Rock was imagining what he was feeling.

"Ohhh…" Ness heard his friend moan and he knew he had to be feeling good.

"Yeah…" Ness's muscles tensed, his head and back lifted up from the ground as he gripped himself tighter. A wandering thought passed through his head that he couldn't help but say out loud, "Oh crap, I don't know where my rag is to clean up."

The noise from the other side stopped, replaced by a stifled giggle, "Oh my gosh Ness, we're outside!"

Ness didn't quite understand, "And?"

"When you're ready just roll over and shoot at the ground," Ness was glad it was dark otherwise he was sure his face would be very red tinged.

"See?! You do know everything!" Both boys laughed for a moment but hardly paused their game. Their breaths were becoming more labored and their feet kept shuffling and scraping against dirt and sand as if trying to dig into it.

In the dark Ness was the first to call out, "I'm gonna…"

"Yeah," a reply came from beside him, "Me too…"

Ness's whole body tensed tightly as he rolled onto his side. "Ahhhh…" He couldn't help let out a few quiet grunts as his whole body shivered.

"Oh yeah…" Behind him, Ness could hear Rock reaching a climax too. His breathing was hard, the slipping was fast, and the sand was practically grinding under him as he slid around. All of the noise stopped suddenly and Ness could hear Rock roll the other way and then small spurts and quiet splashes. Rock started breathing again; he took in long deep breaths to quell his lungs. Ness thought that Rock must have been holding his breath in order to listen more carefully.

After a few moments there were sounds of clothes sliding up. Ness felt a tap on his shoulder, "Now you should sleep easier."

"Mmm-hmmm, thanks," Ness was already nodding off as his body relaxed.

The next thing Ness knew his eyes were open and there was a glow coming from the entrance to the small cave. There shouldn't have been any light in the cavern even during the day though. He crawled out and noticed Rock was sitting with his back leaning against the wall below. Rock was looking down and seemed to be creating the soft glow in front of him.

Slowly Ness tried to look around at what Rock was doing without alerting him that he was awake. He saw that Rock was looking down at a small picture. Ness could barely make out that it was a picture of an older man with a young boy and girl beside him and they were surrounded by what looked like quite a few animals.

Rock started putting things down and Ness tried to duck back into the cave, "Oh hey, you're awake."

Ness cringed slightly, "Yeah. What time is it?"

Rock turned around, "No idea, but we can go whenever we feel like it right?"

"Guess so," Ness sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Just give me a minute."

"Whenever you're ready," Rock opened up his bag and put his stuff back in it and made his ball of light much brighter.

It was impossible to have a true grasp of time while underground. The two snaked through cavernous corridors for what felt like hours but could have been shorter or longer. As the two trekked through a particularly long tunnel with the canal at their side a slight but constant hiss in the air could be heard along with the flowing water.

Rock put a hand out, "You hear that?"

Ness nodded, "Barely."

The two continued walking through the tunnel, the sound slowly became louder, much louder. They could see an opening that looked like the end of the tunnel ahead. The loud hiss had become more like an echoing roar as they approached.

"The heck is that?" Ness ran ahead to take a look at the open room.

"Thats… WAIT!" Rock's eyes widened and he dashed ahead and pulled on Ness's collar before he could run out of the tunnel.

Both boys fell back. As the light caught up to them it was clear the next room had no floor, and the canal was flowing into it like a waterfall. "Whoa… good catch. Sorry about that."

"Always be mindful of your footing young grasshopper," Rock helped Ness back up and they took a look into the next room. At the bottom was a giant pool where the water was collecting before flowing under some kind of platform. But what caught their attention was the numerous glows on top of the platform.

Ness pointed towards them, "Are those…?"

"I think so," Rock grinned and nodded in excitement, "Fire flowers!"

The two searched the opening for a moment and found an edge with enough slope and bricks to climb down. The bricks were slick and wet from the falling water near the bottom, but by that point they simply jumped off the rest of the way into the pool.

It was an easy climb up onto the platform, and once their eyes were over the edge they widened at the site of dozens of glowing fire flowers.

"We can make enough potions to last awhile!" Rock beamed enthusiastically as he climbed to his feet and helped Ness onto the platform. As they were walking towards the fire flowers the light spell Rock had following them was abruptly extinguished, "Huh?"

A slight rumble made both boys look towards a nearby rock wall. Ness could almost swear he saw the whole wall move, "Does that wall have a… face?"

Both Ness and Rock stared in awe as the wall moved closer into the glow of the fire flowers. The whole wall seemed nearly ten meters tall and as it slowly approached, stone facial features were revealed such as eyes, ears with diamond shaped earrings, a fancy stone headdress, and a large mouth.

"Ummm… okay then…" Rock was on guard as he took a few steps closer to the face which was still several meters away from the edge of their platform.

Ness gulped as he kept at Rock's side, "Is it… alive?"

"Good question," A slight rumble caused Rock to look up, "WATCH OUT!" Rock pushed Ness out of the way and rolled out himself as a large stone hand crashed down from above with the apparent intention of flattening them both.

Ness coughed out the dust the hand brought down with it, "What the crap?"

The eyes of the face on the wall opened and stared menacingly at the two boys. The hand on the ground got back up and formed a fist that pounded on the platform, "WHAM!" Another fist dropped from the ceiling and hit the platform on Ness's other side, "BAM!" Everything quaked as the boys got up and stared down the enormous Wham Bam Rock.

"Run!" Rock ordered a retreat and they both turned and sprinted as fast as they could toward the exit where the canal was flowing. One of the stone hands flew over their head and crashed into the cavern wall above the next tunnel. The impact caused a cave in and dropped dozens of small boulders to block the exit path.

Ness slid to a halt once he saw the exit blocked, "No good!"

"Alright then, we got no choice but to put this thing down!" Rock reached behind his back and pulled out his flame sword which began to glow red hot like fire.

Ness pulled out his yoyo, it spun violently at his side releasing several cackles of electricity. Ness looked at their weapons and back up to the face wall, "These aren't going to work are they?"

"Nope…" Rock confirmed as the hand swung their way and they dived to the ground to avoid decapitation.

"What do we do then?!" Ness tried swinging his yoyo at the hand, but even the spinning blades had little effect on the hardened stone.

Rock pushed Ness out of the way as the second hand swung at them, "Obviously this thing isn't really _alive_ , right?"

"What are you talking about?" Ness pulled Rock with him as he rolled to the side to avoid the other hand as it slapped its open palm at the ground where they had been.

"This thing has to be some kind of magical entity, like a golem," Rock jumped off of Ness drove his sword towards one of the hands, but much like Ness's yoyo it merely scratched the surface.

After jumping back to Ness's side, the two boys stared down the gigantic face, "By not alive you mean?"

"It can't have the bio processes necessary to sustain itself so there must be some kind of enchantment animating it," Rock tried to explain as the hands flew up toward the ceiling of the cavern.

"You're being all sciency and not making sense again!" Ness yelled out as the hands collided with the ceiling and caused boulders to fall over their heads.

Both boys were busy looking up and dodging the falling boulders that they failed to notice one of the hands return to the ground and swipe at them. Rock took the hit first before it collided into Ness and the two of them tumbled off the platform and into the pool of water below.

Ness pushed himself up while trying to cough the surprising amount of water from his lungs, "Are you okay?"

Rock nodded as he stood as well. He looked down and noticed how the water was reaching past his waist, "Uhoh…" He looked from the waterfall to the sealed exit, "The water can't escape the room, it's starting to fill."

Ness looked up at the floating hands of the Wham Bam Rock, "That might not be a bad thing, if we can get his hands wet, then my lightning magic may be able to effect it."

"That might work but be careful, and keep looking for something that stands out" Rock looked like he was calculating the factors in his head, "There's gotta be something physical holding the magic animating this thing like a scroll, or rune, or imprint somewhere. If we destroy that then maybe…"

"MOVE!" A fist collided with the ground between them and created a wave of water that washed over Ness and knocked him off his feet. Ness kicked up off the ground again searching for breath. Once his coughing died down he noticed the first floating back up but he didn't see Rock anywhere, "Rock? ROCK! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I think I found it!" the voice echoed from high above. Ness looked up and saw Rock hanging onto the stone hand as it floated through the air.

"That can't be a good idea…" Ness jumped at the pillar support for the higher platform as the other fist punched at him. He managed to shimmy his way quickly up to the platform and was once again level with the face of the enormous monstrosity.

"INCOMING!" Rock shouted as the fist he was holding began to soar in Ness's direction.

Ness ducked out of the way again, "What did you find?!"

"There's a rune inscribed on the back of the hand, it has to be the source of the magic keeping this thing alive!" Rock held up his sword to slash at the rune. As if sensing danger, the hand lurched up quickly and smashed Rock against the ceiling of the cavern.

"ROCK!" Ness shouted as Rock's sword came clattering to the ground without him. Panic washed over Ness for a moment as he waited for the hand to reveal what was pinned above it. The other hand took Ness from behind and pushed him back off the platform and pursued him into the water.

As the large hand separated from the ceiling, Rock was still clinging to the top of the hand but looked a little roughed up, "Don't want me touching that rune huh?"

The hand turned directions and slapped Rock against a side wall of the cavern. It dragged up through the stone but Rock continued to hold on. He reached to his belt and pulled out one of his trusty metal blades and expanded to its normal size, "Just gotta sever the link!"

Rock dug into the back of the stone hand with his blade, taking out small chunks of muddy rock with every swipe, "Thanks for getting yourself wet for me! Makes it a lot easier to do this!" The hand began writhing crazily trying to shake Rock off of it. Even the face on the wall made a grimace in pain and howled as the hand drove through several stalactites, breaking them off the ceiling in an attempt to get Rock off its back. Rock held his grip tight and continued swinging at the inscribed rune, "Just need to sever a line of the rune!" Rock continued picking at the inscription, but it was obvious the water from before had only soaked so deep, and the stone beneath was beginning to dull the metal blade.

Far below the right hand, Ness was swimming through the water as the left hand splashed and swatted at him. The hand rolled over and under the water and Ness was able to see the same rune that Rock was talking about on the back of the hand. Ness's eyes gave off a bright glow before he moved his hands forward and fired an underwater lightning bolt. He felt the electricity charge through him, and knew using lightning magic underwater was risky. He grinned as realized his own lightning did little more than leave his skin tingling.

The hand burst from the water, opened the palm, and tried smashing down over Ness's head. The waves of the water pushed Ness out of the way before the hand was too close and allowed him to fire another thunderbolt at the hand. The ionizing pulses of Ness's lighting blasts were chipping away the muddy hand, but Ness saw his position wasn't good for actually hitting the rune on the back.

As if the hand were getting frustrated, it began swirling under the water. At first Ness wasn't sure what it was doing but then realized the turning motion was creating a whirlpool like effect that pulled him towards it. He tried holding on to the ground to keep himself still, but immediately slipped and was washed away by the powerful current. He knew if he didn't do something he'd be grinded down to nothing by the spinning stone hand. Again he made a desperate attempt to halt his movement as he reached for a pillar as he was swept by. He barely got his fingers onto the column and took a deep breath to recover from being underwater for so long. From the corner of his eye he saw something metal in the water being thrown in his direction.

Rock had refused to let go of the right hand. It flew through the air, hitting walls and nearly smashed him several times. He was hurting from the walls he had hit and wasn't sure he'd be able to keep holding on as the next wall was coming up fast. Rock let go of his grip on the stone hand, and put both his hands through the center ring of the metal blade. With all the strength he had left, he drove it into the back of the hand as hard as he could.

"BREAK!" The blade completely severed a line of the rune. A bright glow escaped from the cut point as the magic drained from it and the entire hand began to crumble into many different stones.

Rock couldn't stop his momentum as he continued to the wall. He tried to brace himself as his back hit the wall and he slowly slid down to the platform, "Well… I could have done that with a little more grace…"

Slowly Rock pushed himself to one knee and looked around. The large face stared at him furiously, "What do you want?!"

The left hand burst out of the water and landed nearby. The palm opened wide as it swiped at high speed toward Rock. Rock braced himself for another hit when there was a flash of light behind the hand. Rock's eyes widened as his sword pierced through the center of the palm.

"RRRAAAAAARRRGGGHHH!" The face howled as both it and the remaining hand gave off a brilliant light before crumbling to the ground.

Genuine surprise washed over Rock as he saw Ness standing behind the crumbling hand, shielding his face from the light, but still holding onto the flame sword. The face on the wall crumbled a piece at a time, losing eyes, nose, and mouth, before the entire wall splashed into the water below. All the boulders and falling rocks settled, and the noise in the room died down, "You did it!"

Ness was completely out of breath as he looked up at the still burning blade, "That worked?"

"Totally!" Rock limped over wrapped his arm around Ness, "That was awesome!"

Ness closed his eyes and gave Rock a tired smile, "I was underwater for a while and just hoped it would make it easier to stab through if the water would just soak through."

"A much better strategy than mine, I can tell you that," Rock rubbed at his sore spots, "How did you climb back up and hit it so fast though?"

Ness handed Rock his sword back, "I'm not sure, I saw it floating up over my head and I just knew I had to stop it… I don't really know what I did after that."

The smile faded from Rock's face as he thought about Ness's words for a moment. Ness mimicked the worried look, but then immediately Rock smiled again, "Doesn't matter! You were awesome and destroyed that hand easy!"

Ness smiled again as well, "Thanks! But you're hurt, we need to make those healing potions!"

The two quickly mixed the fire flowers with their piranha plants and immediately Rock took a swig from the concoction. Like before his bruises immediately faded, "That's the stuff! And we got enough to last a while this time."

With their potions to keep them energized, the two made quick work of removing the boulder blockade from the tunnel and continued tirelessly down the cavern.

Three more days passed. It was night time at a fort on the far end of the Mushroomy Desert. Red and green shelled tortoise creatures were asleep in the abandoned fort but were awoken by a rattle sound as a hatch in the basement was knocked on from below. Some of the creatures approached to investigate the noise. The sewer lid began to move from one side to another violently. The tortoises backed away before the lid was blown off entirely. The lid bounced off the ceiling and clattered noisily to the ground as most of the turtle creatures ran for their life.

"I think I can see the sky!" Ness climbed out first. Over his clothes he had on pieces of beetle carapace supplementing his armor.

Rock climbed out in similar fashion, "Still a desert, but I'll take it!"

Any creature that had remained in the fort quickly scurried away at the sight of the two boys as they ascended the stairs, "How long do you think we were underground?"

Rock looked up at the stars, "We made good time, but at least four days if I had to guess."

The hat in Ness's hand appeared to be tugging harder than normal toward the southeast, "I think we're really close though.

Looking out the window the two could see the torchlights of a town at the horizon nestled between two mountains, "That city has to be where we're going then," Rock tried to estimate its distance, "We should be there tomorrow no problem."

"The next champion…" Ness beamed, "We may actually be able to do this!"

"Are you tired?" Rock asked while turning only his eyes to look at Ness.

"No way," Ness psyched himself up, "Let's do this!"

Under the cover of the night sky the two continued on.

* * *

 ** **End Chapter****

Sorry I'm being really slow at writing lately, but I'm not giving up. I still plan on concentrating mostly on this for now and we'll see if we can get anywhere. Thanks for reading and please leave me some feedback. I'd love to know what you guys think of where this is going and what could happen still!

'Til next time!


	8. Those Who Fight

Thank you, everyone, who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Ness and Rock fell into the sewers that ran under the old forts of the Mushroomy Desert. Inside they found refuge from the sun, but a plethora over other creatures including goombas and piranha plants. After discovering that an alchemical mixture of piranha plant and fire flower could be used to create potions to heal wounds, the two kept a close eye out for any signs of where fire flowers might grow underground. They found a glowing patch of the flowers only to then be challenged by a Wham Bam Rock who stood guard over the garden. The two discovered the golems weakness and dispatched the large challenge. After another week of travelling underground, the two have emerged once again to the surface, a city that could very well be their goal in sight.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 7: Those Who Fight****

* * *

The stars in the sky slowly faded as the sun rose from behind the mountains. The city ahead, nestled between the cliffs, was fortified by a giant wall and appeared to mark the border between the desert and plains.

Ness and Rock climbed over the final large dune and watched as large convoys rode into town from the main road and stopped at the gate. They all lined up in front of some kind of checkpoint.

"This place looks pretty secure," Rock put his hand over his brow as he surveyed the area.

"I wonder if it's to keep out the empire?" Ness asked himself as he tried to gauge the wall that surrounded the city.

"Come on," Rock started walking toward the road, "I guess we're going to have to get in line in order to get inside."

Merchants with large animal drawn carts made up most of the line. Though the gates had only just opened the lines were long from all those who had taken up a queue position in the night.

Ness tapped his foot on the ground feeling bored while they waited their turn to pass through.

A guard nodded to the caravan in front of the boys after what seemed like a thorough check, "Alright, move along."

Ness and Rock walked up the guard. He looked over the two and scrunched his nose, "Identification or pass papers please."

Ness looked to Rock who shrugged. Rock cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, we don't have any pass papers."

The guard sighed, "Where are you boys from?"

"Onett, in Eagleland," Ness offered right away.

"Eagleland," The guard repeated, "The Lycian consulate is in Fourside, you'll have to get passes there before you can enter a major city."

"What?!" Ness looked horrified, "Eagleland was attacked by The Golden Empire, we can't just go back."

"First I've heard of this," The guard shrugged haphazardly.

"We travel faster than news," Rock tried to speak sincerely.

The guard still looked dubious, "If you're looking for refugee status then you're going to have to go through processing in Lycia."

"I'm sorry sir," Rock took a breath before upping the diplomacy, "We're not seeking refuge, we're on an extremely important mission." He pulled off his pack and fished out the medallion from the bag they discovered while underground, "I'm sure you must have heard of the elemental ceremony? We've been sent by the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom to find the new Champion of Fire, the one who will rise up in place of their hero Mario."

"What's this?" The guard pulled the medallion from Rock's hand, "It's just a bloody "M"? You expect me to believe that a couple of bratty kids from Eagleland covered in beetle guts are emissaries of the Mushroom Kingdom? A piece of gaudy jewelry doesn't get you anywhere here." The guard threw the medallion back at Rock.

Ness's patience began to grind thin, "He's telling the truth! We were sent by Princess Peach, and we know the new Champion of Fire is inside this city!" Ness crossed his arms and stared up at the guard with the best business face he could muster, "And we're not covered in beetle guts, these are carapace shells, they just so happen to have high resistance against elemental damage."

The guard rested his forehead against his palm, "Kid… I don't even…"

Shouts began coming from the line behind them, "Stop holding up the line! We have business to get to!"

The guard shook his head, "No one can cross into Pherae without a pass. Find a merchant who you can pay for transport to Lycia and stop bothering us here!"

Static began building up in Ness's hand. His mouth opened to protest when Rock grabbed onto his wrist, "Come on, let's go."

Ness sank back a bit and nodded before throwing the guard one more dirty look as they walked away, "I can't believe they won't let us through!"

"They're doing their job of keeping the city safe," Rock let go of Ness once they were away from the gate. "Can you check the hat? Where is it pulling towards?"

"Sure," Ness pulled the hat from his pack and held it up. Almost immediately the hat pulled itself free from Ness's grip and stuck to the wall, "Definitely gotta be in there."

Rock peeled the hat from the wall in order to feel the tug himself, "Yeah, it's pulling a lot harder since we left the Mushroom Kingdom."

"What do we do?" Ness asked worriedly as he put the hat back into his backpack.

"We'll come up with something, for now let's check out the wall," The front gates became a spec at their backs as the two walked along the extensive city wall of Pherae. Rock focused most of his attention toward the wall itself as if looking for anyway over the daunting ten meter stone structure. The two spent over an hour walking until they almost reached the far side of the city.

"What kind of place builds a wall this high around an entire city?" Ness was still grumbling about it as they walked.

"Look over there," Rock hushed Ness as he pointed up at the wall.

Ness had to squint his eyes but he eventually noticed as well; the guard overlooking this section of the wall was dozing off, "And if no one is watching…"

Rock grinned as he crept along the wall towards a tall rock formation that shot out of the ground, "I think we can climb that and get over the top."

"Works for me, let's get to it!" Ness exclaimed in a hushed voice as he followed Rock along the edge of wall to make it harder to be seen by anyone at the top of the wall.

Covered by the shadow of the rock formation, the boys made their move. "We can wedge ourselves between the wall and this cliff, that should give us enough leverage to climb up," Rock tested his theory by putting one hand against the wall, and the other out against the stone that jutted out alongside it. "Yeah, this'll work, I'll go first."

"Just be careful you don't fall," Ness warned as he looked for good place to grab onto.

Slowly Rock began to shimmy his way up the wall. Ness followed only a few feet below him. The actual climbing seemed easy. Ness looked up and saw that Rock was less than three meters from the top, "I can't believe getting over the wall would be this easy…"

"You probably shouldn't say something like that," Rock gulped as he pushed himself up a little higher. Rock's hand reached up but he paused as he heard a whistle move through the air. Both boys flinched as a steel arrow embedded itself in the stone directly where Rock's hand would have latched on to.

"Crap!" both Ness and Rock turned and noticed a figure standing on the wall pointing a bow in their direction. Rock looked down at Ness, "We're not gonna make it to the top, we need to take this to the ground."

"Right," Ness slid off the wall as quickly as he could. Once he was close to the ground he jumped off the wall and rolled behind the rock formation.

Rock was right behind Ness, though he didn't take cover. He looked up at the top of the wall as the archer came running across the wall in their direction.

Once in place the archer nocked another arrow on his bow and stared down at Rock. Ness looked up from the rock formation, confused as to why Rock was just standing out in the open instead of taking any cover.

From behind, Ness couldn't tell what emotions were playing on Rock's face as he pulled his sword out from behind his back, "Ness… no matter what happens, I want you to sit this one out."

"What?!" The request sounded absurd to Ness, "But this could get serious!"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine, just stay back," Rock sounded confident as he lowered himself into a fighting stance.

Ness was dumbfounded by Rock's choice of action. He definitely never expected Rock to purposefully engage in a fight with a soldier. He looked up at the archer on top of the wall and noticed the archer staring down at Rock looked as though he were… smiling.

The archer fired the arrow as Rock jumped back out of the way. Ness was shocked as the archer waved his hand and with a slight silver glow the iron rebar within the wall broke free and molded itself into what looked like a small platform below him. The archer jumped to his makeshift platform and fired off a few more arrows before creating another platform further down and continued both his descent and barrage simultaneously.

Rock rolled out of the way of the first arrows and shielded himself from the next with the broad side of his sword. Once the platforms were nearing the ground, Rock ended his retreat and charged forward toward the attacker.

Now that he was closer to the ground, Ness was able to get a better look at the archer. He actually looked to be about their age, his hair was a brown mess, his eyes were bright blue, he wore an iron chestplate over his torso and shoulders, loose white pants were tucked into what looked like knee high iron sollerets on his feet, and the bow in his hands also looked as though it were made of iron which Ness realized couldn't bend like a normal bow.

Once close enough, Rock jumped high over the platform and brought his sword crashing down over the boy's head. The boy held his bow up to defend against the attack, and right before Ness's eyes the bow gave off a glow as it morphed into twin blades.

Locked in a sword clash, the two boys pushed against each other with all their strength. The brown haired boy spoke first, "That sword is too big for you."

Rock's shrugged slightly, "Not as much as it used to be though." Rock kicked off the attacker and landed on the platform above. The two stared each other down for a moment before Rock turned the other way.

The boy's eyes widened as he realized Rock was using the platforms he created to scale the wall, "No you don't!" He waved his hand again and the platforms began collapsing back into the wall but not before Rock took one last leap of faith and managed to grab onto the very edge of the wall. He flipped himself over and stood ready at the top, claiming the high ground.

The boy growled as his hands gave off a bright silver glow. With another wave of his hand his own platform rose rapidly and launched him towards the top of the wall at high velocity. The boy's sword met Rock's and they continued their duel atop the city's defensive perimeter. The clanging of metal echoed all the down to the ground as the two swung and parried swing after swing.

Ness blinked in disbelief as he watched the two go at it. Realizing he was going to lose track of them if he didn't keep up, he started scaling the wall against the rock formation himself.

Metal clanged loudly as the swords continuously met in combat. The young guard saw an opening and smiled as he brought both his swords down over Rock's head. Rock managed to hold his sword above him by the broad end to block against the attack and then kicked the boy in the torso while it was open. The boy had the wind knocked out of him as he flew from the top of the wall into the city below. Rock watched the boy fall and simply jumped off the wall as well.

Ness's eyes widened as both of them left his field of view. He doubled his climbing pace and jumped for the ledge of the wall himself so he could pull himself over the top. Once he was over and looked down he noticed the two boys had landed on another metal platform and were still locked in a sword fight. His mouth hung open in disbelief as each of them seemed relentless to outdo the other. A snore from his left furthered the unbelievability of the situation as he saw the older guard atop the wall was still fast asleep. He shook his head as he found a staircase that led to the ground within the city.

Along the ground near the wall were a series of metal poles, and as the boy Rock was fighting held his glowing hand above his head, the poles animated and extended their length at an incredible speed. They snaked through the air in organic twists and tried impacting or entangling Rock in their random knots. Rock managed to jump through the tangled mess of metal and avoid anything that would have otherwise impaled him. The iron poles made horrible clangs as they banged against themselves only centimeters from where Rock had just stood.

A platform began to rise from under the archer's feet as he put his two swords together to form a bow once again. He took aim at Rock but missed the shot as Rock dodged by grabbing on to one of the snaking metal poles. The pole dragged Rock upward, and once he was high enough he leapt off in the boy's direction. He tackled the boy off his platform and the two plunged through the air, "You're crazy!"

Rock grinned as he shielded his face before they both landed in an open water tank.

A sizeable crowd was gathering along the inner perimeter of the wall as people rushed to see what the commotion was all about. Citizens and guards both gathered near the water tank which allowed Ness to go mostly unnoticed while he kept an eye on Rock. He managed to overhear some talking amongst the people, "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, these two just fell from the sky and started fighting a minute ago."

"That's one of the guard captains fighting isn't it?"

"Look at all the metal magic, that definitely has to be Pit!"

"I don't know who the other sod is or what he's done, but I almost feel bad for him. He stands no chance against Pit."

"He's put up a good fight so far though."

Ness gulped as he listened to the people talk. "Metal magic…" he whispered to himself as he paid close attention to what Pit was doing. It was definitely a type of magic he'd never seen before and him extremely nervous.

Rock breached the surface of the water tank first and swam for the edge. As he reached for the metal rim it bent away from him on its own and water poured out of the side carrying Rock with the flow. Rock rolled onto the dirt below and quickly pushed himself to his feet as Pit flew from the tank with his weapon in its sword configuration again. Rock put up his sword to defend against it but as he had yet to find his balance, his heavy great sword was easily knocked from his hands.

Pit yelled as he swung back around with his swords, intent on claiming victory in the skirmish, but again his swords came into contact with a defense as Rock shielded himself with two metal blades clutched tightly in his hands, "How many weapons do you have?!"

Rock grinned as he pushed Pit off and resumed the attack, his round serrated blades made vicious clangs against Pit's swords.

Ness was completely dumbfounded as he watched the intense fight wage on. He was so enraptured by the battle that didn't notice a boy just slightly taller than Rock standing at his side, "From the look on your face, I'd say you're friends with the boy Pit is fighting?"

Ness jumped back slightly, unsure of whether he needed to defend himself or not, "Maybe…"

The boy at Ness's side had crimson red hair brushed forward around a headband, he wore a dark red chestplate similar to Pit's and charcoal colored pants tucked into brown leather boots, "He's a really good fighter going against Pit like this."

"He's one of the best!" Ness adamantly stated.

The boy nodded, "I can tell! But he's tiring out; it won't be long now before Pit is able to take advantage of that."

Pit put his swords together, butt to butt, with a slight silver glow they fused together into a double bladed style sword. He spun the sword over his head bringing one side down over Rock from above. Rock blocked up with both metal blades, but after the ricochet Pit was able to use the momentum to bring the other end of sword up from under Rock's defenses. Rock had no choice but to jump back and lose some of his balance to dodge the attack. Pit used the momentary lack of footing his advantage and spin-kicked Rock in the chest sending him spinning over the ground.

"Look out!" Ness shouted from the sidelines as Pit fell from above with his sword pointing down. Rock managed to roll out of the way just in time as Pit's sword pierced the ground. While in mid roll, Rock threw one of the metal blades at Pit before flipping himself to his feet and throwing the other one. Pit spun his double sided sword like a propeller to knock the metal blades away, sending them ricocheting in different directions. He lowered his weapon in time to see Rock charging through from behind the attack. Pit braced himself, ready for Rock to impact him, but instead Rock made a sliding kick down low which caused Pit to fall forward over him. Rock pushed himself up and caught Pit in mid-fall; he carried enough momentum to spin their positions around so that he landed on top of Pit, effectively pinning him to the ground.

Pit's eyes widened as he struggled to free himself but found Rock's grip too tight. The slight glimmer of a nearby metal rod caught Pit's attention. The rebar gave off a silver glow before it shifted and then flew on its own. It snaked around Rock's torso, hooking him tightly before it flew back, dragging Rock with it, and roughly pinned him against the ground a few meters away. Rock pulled at the metal clamp, but found it's grip to be extremely secure.

Despite his struggling and pulling, Rock wasn't able to get loose by the time a sword was pointing at his throat. Pit stood above him, out of breath, but in an obviously more favorable position, "Got you… Looks like I win!"

The crowd became quiet as they watched the two stare each other down. Before anything else could happen, the crowd was blinded by a flash of light, and deafened by a crack of thunder. Pit turned around to see the wave of energy only a moment before he was impacted and blasted off of Rock.

The restraint holding Rock down immediately returned to its original shape allowing Rock to stand. Ness ran into the street and took a defensive position in front of Rock, "That's enough!"

From behind Ness, Rock began to laugh. Ness looked over his shoulder; he knew something was going on but had no idea what as Rock picked himself up and put a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright… I think." Ness was unable to say anything else as he watched Rock limp over to Pit and poke at him, "Hey, you alright?"

"Uhhh," Pit stirred and slowly opened an eye, "What the hell was that?"

Rock held a hand out to Pit to help him up, "A bolt of lightning."

Pit glared over at Ness and started shouting, "I'm wearing metal, and was still wet from falling into a water tank, that could have killed me!"

"If he had wanted to kill you he would have, just walk it off," Rock kept Pit steady as the boy was still shaking from the voltage.

Once Pit seemed to be standing on his own okay, Rock took a step back, "It's good to see you alive and kicking."

"The kicking might be involuntary for the next few minutes, but it's good to see you too!" Pit lunged at Rock and wrapped his arms around him. The two hugged like old friends for a moment before Pit pulled Rock forward and kneed him in the stomach, "Oops! Involuntary electrical reaction!" Rock held his stomach as he backed away while flipping Pit off.

The crowd seemed satisfied that the fight was over and dissipated back to their daily routine.

Ness pulled off his hat and scratched his head in confusion. The crimson haired boy looked much more amused by what just happened as he stepped in closer. Once he heard the laugh, Pit immediately righted himself, "Roy! Sorry to have caused a scene…"

"It's fine," Roy assured him, "Care to explain what's going on though?"

Pit nodded, "I uhh… caught them sneaking over the wall."

A cold sweat came over Ness as felt for sure they were in trouble for this.

"But you know them?" the boy questioned further.

"Yes sir," Pit pointed to Rock, "At least this one, his name is Rock Light, we fought together during the Zebes War."

The boy stepped up closer and enthusiastically examined Rock, "You've mentioned him before! So this is _THE_ _Mega Man_ of the war."

Rock shook his head, "There were many heroes who did far more than I did, such as Pit here."

"Still, anyone who stood up to that witch, Mother Brain, deserves a hero's welcome in our country, welcome to Pherae!" The boy extended his hand in greeting, "My name is Roy, son of Grand Duke Eliwood, and in my father's name I extend to you and your friend the hospitality of our city-state."

"Thank you Roy," Rock bowed in respect to the young duke and motioned for Ness to come over, "My friend's name is Ness, the new Champion of Thunder."

"You don't have to go telling everyone…" Ness held his hand out in courtesy to Roy as well, "Umm, nice to meet you."

Pit shivered as Rock introduced Ness, "No wonder I can still feel the static…"

"A real champion?" Roy took a moment to appraise Ness, "That's awesome! Have you been travelling for long? How difficult has it been? Wait…" Roy chuckled as he took a breath to calm his excitement, "Before any of that, you two look like you could use a good meal. Why don't you both come back with us to my father's manor?"

Ness and Rock looked at each other and grinned, "It has been over a week since we had fresh food…"

Roy motioned for everyone to follow him, "It's settled then! Please follow me."

Pit brought up the rear as he shook himself off a bit. Ness fell back to Pit's side and spoke in a low voice, "Hey, I'm really sorry about blasting you with lightning."

Pit shrugged, "Don't sweat it, I could tell you were worried I was actually going to hurt Rock."

"I should have realized something was going on though," Ness shook his head as if he were feeling ashamed, "Now that I know you two are friends it finally makes sense why Rock was holding back so much in the fight."

Pit stopped walking and his eyes opened wide, "Wait… what do you mean he was holding back?"

Ness nodded, "Well yeah… I mean he didn't use any kind of magic against you at all."

Pit laughed, "Of course he used…" The laughing stopped as he looked as though he were rewinding the fight in his head, "I mean he had to have… ROCK! What the crap?!"

The light hearted bickering between Rock and Pit continued all the way through the city. Roy let them be and instead walked alongside Ness, "I doubt I'm going to get much information out of them, so you're really the new Champion of Thunder?"

"Well, I guess yeah," Ness began, "It's been weird trying to get used to it."

"I bet!" Roy waved the group through the gates of his father's manor, "Do you know anything about the Lost Champions? Or have you found any of the crystal shards?"

"I've heard the stories about Mario, I'm not too sure on most of the other Champions though," Ness's head tilted as he looked thoughtfully at Roy, "You know a lot about the Champions huh?"

Roy nodded as they entered into a grand hall, "I've read a few books on the legends. It became a big deal at the academy a few years ago when the Lost Champions failed."

"Failed…" Ness gulped.

Roy frowned as he watched Ness think about the word, "But you're a champion now, so that's good news for you. Amazing adventure awaits! Have you been traveling a lot already?"

Ness shrugged, "It hasn't been that long actually. I was a normal kid back home just two weeks ago…"

Roy chuckled and patted Ness on the back, "You can't think of yourself as 'not a normal kid' anymore, enjoy yourself, experience everything the world can give you, you have to believe this is a world worth saving and you can't feel that way if you're not having some fun."

"Huh…" Ness hummed, "I never thought about it like that before, thanks."

Ness stopped as incredible smells reached him. Through the next archway he could see a spread of food on a long table. His stomach decided then to remind him that he'd been living off dried rations for the past several days. He stared at the table with a slight bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth, "Wow that looks good."

Roy grinned at Ness's change of attitude, "Like I said, enjoy what the world has to offer you when it does!"

Four adults and a young girl approached from the other side of the room. Roy courteously stepped to the side between the two groups to introduce them, "Good morning father, two of Pit's friends are visiting Pherae today and I have invited them to eat with us."

"By all means, welcome and good morning to you all," A tall man who looked very much like an older version of Roy moved to take his place at the head of the table, "I am Eliwood, Duke of Pherae," He pointed to the three others who had entered with him, "This is my wife and Roy's mother, Lyn, my friend Hector, the Duke of Ostia, his wife Florina, and their daughter Lilina. Please sit."

"Pit's friends?" Hector hummed to himself as he took a seat opposite of Eliwood, "I imagine they're not typical travelers are they?"

"Not at all, Rock was a warrior during the Zebes War, and Ness is the new Champion of Thunder," Roy completed the introductions and permission was given for the meal to commence.

Immediately, Ness began ripping through food. While also hungry for food other than rations, Rock did his best to show more table manners as he ate. He swallowed his food before asking, "How long has Pit been a guard in Pherae?"

Eliwood grinned, "It was right after the Zebes War that you came here, wasn't it?"

"Yes sir," Pit nodded politely.

"Yes, I remember the day we met was the opening of the local steelworks." Eliwood rested his chin on his hands as he looked back in his memories, "I had Roy with me as I toured the facility that day. We were walking by the blast furnace when there was a rupture. It was a terrible accident and would have hurt many innocents, including Roy. The metal came crashing down towards the crowd but then completely stopped in mid air. Pit rushed in and placed himself between the people and the falling structure and used his powers to press the furnace back together. I invited him into my home as a guest to repay his kindness, but he and Roy almost immediately grew inseparable. He then proceeded to keep Roy out of trouble on multiple occasions so I made it official and gave him the rank of Captain within the guards of Pherae and the permanent assignment of guarding Roy."

Roy raised his eyebrows, "Not that I really need a bodyguard anymore." Lyn gave Roy a stern look, "...But if I had to have one, I'm very glad to have a friend I can relate with."

Pit smiled happily, "I've enjoyed this assignment too! Beats crawling through the lava reefs of Norfair, do you remember that Rock?"

"Yeah…" Rock held back a cringe as best he could, "...that was definitely not a fun day…"

Recognizing the discomfort in Rock's voice, Eliwood changed the subject, "So what sort of business is it that brings the elemental Champion of Thunder and his guardian to Pherae?"

Ness put down his utensils, "We're searching for the new Champion of Fire, and we're pretty sure he's here in Pherae."

"Gathering of the Champions again... " Eliwood nodded in understanding, "A difficult path lies ahead of you, I'm aware of how difficult it was to gather the champions the first time… A second attempt will be dangerous however necessary." A slight bewilderment came over Eliwood as he looked up at Ness, "Tell me, how do you know the Champion of Fire resides in Pherae?"

"Oh," Ness pulled out his backpack and started rummaging through its contents, "We were in the Mushroom Kingdom and met their princess. She enchanted Mario's hat so it would be attracted to the Champion Fire who took Mario's place." He found the cap but immediately it flew from his hand, "WHOA!"

Rock ducked out of the way as the cap soared across the table. Everyone watched the excitement as it knocked over several glasses of water and then struck Roy in the chest.

"I'm sorry!" Ness jumped out his seat and hurried over to Roy. He pulled the hat away, but it immediately pulled itself back into the red headed boy. Ness moved around to the back of Roy's chair, and again the hat pulled into Roy's back. Ness's eyes widened as he realized what everyone else in the room had already discerned, "It's you!"

Roy held out the hat that clung to him, "Is that… possible?"

Eliwood stood from his seat as he stared at the hat clinging to his son.

Gruff laughter from the other end of the table rang out as Hector held out his drink, "That is stupendous! I always knew you were a man destined for greatness! Isn't that right Eli?"

Emotions started playing on Eliwood's face. First confusion, then a glimmer of pride, but it eventually settled on something else, "This is quite the unexpected turn of events, but tell me, how do we know this hat to be accurate in locating the Champion of Fire?"

"Ummm…" Ness stumbled through his thoughts for a moment, "I uhh… I guess I just trusted Princess Peach to know what she was doing…"

Eliwood leaned back in his chair, "So in other words, there's no way to know for sure who the Champion of Fire is, or even for you to prove that you really are the Champion of Thunder?" Though his words were thoughtful, there was a certain accusatory ping that made Ness cringe.

"I mean…" Ness wanted to find some way that could prove what he was saying, "I had no idea that I was one of these champions either until I found that crystal shard…" Ness's eyes widened as he realized something and ran to his backpack, "THAT'S RIGHT! Luigi gave me one of the shards of fire!"

Everyone looked over the table as Ness threw his supplies in random directions until he found what he was looking for, "If Roy really is the Champion of Fire, then he should react to the fire shard Luigi gave me like I reacted to the lightning shard!" Ness opened the sealed pouch and immediately the bright pulsing of the shard filled the room.

"What in blazes, could that truly be a shard of the element of fire?" Eliwood shouted as he backed away from the table.

Roy stood and stared at the shard in Ness's hand. "It's beautiful…" His eyes were fixed upon the shard as he began to walk around the table as if he were in some kind of trance.

A look of triumph came to Ness's face as he held the shard out and watched as Roy was drawn to the red glow.

Once he was near, Roy reached his hand out to the shard and it flew from the pouch and began to float over Roy's hand. The pulsating light reflected from Roy's widened eyes as he stared into the shard.

The temperature in the room began to rise and a sudden realization came over Ness as he started pushing Roy out the door, "I FORGOT! WE NEED TO GET OUTSIDE! GOGOGO!" The panic in Ness's voice was sincere as everyone followed them through the hallways towards the exit.

Heat began to rise around Roy's body causing Ness to flinch a few times as the group ran through the manor. They had all barely crossed the threshold to the courtyard as flames began to circle around the red headed boy. The flames were intense and the grass and plants surrounding Roy ignited from the heat. A red glow surrounded Roy, and then a shockwave blew the spectators off their feet as a pillar of red energy shot to the sky.

The light and heat began to calm. Roy stood in the center of a burning magic circle. The shard was gone and his eyes gave off a bright red glow. Roy took in deep breaths as he calmed himself from the ordeal.

"That was a hell of a thing," Hector remarked as everyone pushed themselves to their feet.

Pit was immediately at Roy's side, "Are you alright?!"

"Fine," Roy shook his head as he steadied himself, "I just feel… warm… It's a good feeling, but also strange."

Ness couldn't help but let his eyes wander to see if absorbing the crystal shard might have affected Roy the same way it had him, "Hmm… Looks like it…"

"I suppose there can be no doubt now," Lyn smiled from her son to her husband.

Eliwood let out a small sigh, "I had heard that after the original champions were interrupted in their ceremony, the crystal forms of the elements shattered and scattered across the world."

"Right," Rock nodded, "It's the duty of the new champions now to gather together, recover the shards, restore the crystals, and complete the Ceremony of Harmony."

An excited expression crossed Roy's face as he looked down at his hands, "So I'm part of this legend now, it's up to me to help finish what the champions started." Determination solidified in Roy's expression, "I accept this task, I'll do everything I can to help."

"Not so fast!" Eliwood spoke in a commanding voice which silenced the even the insects of the courtyard, "I've accepted that my son is this Champion of Fire who will be needed to complete the Ceremony of Harmony, but by no means is he to accompany you on some errand to find these shards and other champions."

"Father!" Roy immediately took a defensive tone against Eliwood, "I was chosen for this father."

Hector put a hand on Roy's shoulder as he tried taking a diplomatic tone," Let's all go back inside and talk about this, eh Eli?"

"I've already made my decision!" Eliwood put even more authority into his voice to hush his son and friend, "You will be needed to complete the ceremony, but you will not be galavanting across the planet. Have you forgotten you have the academy in Ostia to return to? One day you will take my place as Grand Duke of Pherae, you're too young for this and your studies are too important to neglect now."

Roy took in a deep breath to try and remain calm, "Father, I was chosen for this! This is bigger than governing Pherae, it's about saving the world! And as far as age is concerned I'm at least a year older than Ness who has already set out on this mission!"

"And if I were a parent of Ness's I would put a stop to him venturing out as well, but I'm not, I'm yours!" Everyone else remained deathly silent as Roy and his father argued, "You will heed my instructions and return to your studies."

"It's not fair to them father," Roy gestured a hand outward to Ness and Rock, "Who's going to accompany them to find the remaining fire shards?"

"I am not insensitive to their plight," Eliwood turned to the other boys, "I will accompany you, along with Hector and a battalion of our finest scouts and guards."

"I will?" Hector looked from Eliwood to the boys, "Oh, I mean, of course I will, but shouldn't we…"

Ness looked at Rock, obviously wondering if they should say anything.

Deciding it best to avoid getting involved too much in family politics, Rock bowed courteously to Eliwood, "We greatly appreciate any support you can provide."

Heat energy was still visibly radiating from Roy, though Ness wasn't sure if it due to the crystal shard or Roy suppressing his emotions. Without another word, Roy nodded to his father and turned to stride back into the manor. Pit watched Roy as he walked away and waited for a moment to see if Eliwood would call out to him. When that did not happen he chased after Roy.

Lyn looked sternly at Eliwood, "Are you sure this is what's best for him right now?"

Eliwood let out a much deeper sigh than before, "Beyond any doubt." He looked to the other boys still near him, "Please don't think ill of me."

"You're doing what you feel is best for your son," Rock empathised.

Eliwood nodded, "I've managed so far to keep my son from being exposed to violence and bloodshed. Perhaps that has left him naive and believing the world to be a grander place than it is. I was not so fortunate, I was only a little older than he is now when darkness fell upon this land. I fought many a foul beast, the like such as he, or yourselves for that matter, should never need lay eyes upon."

"We all do what has to be done," Ness admired how Rock was able to speak without judgement. "I can't blame you for wanting to protect your son from seeing how terrible the world can be."

"That's right…" Eliwood sighed, "How insensitive of me, you must have been so young when you were thrust into the heart of war, much like Pit, you have my sympathies."

"It isn't anyone's sympathies that either of us need," Though Rock still spoke respectfully, the statement carried his harshest tone yet.

"Of course, I am obviously not being well with words today," Eliwood tried to shake off his emotions and right himself, "It will take some time to prepare for this venture, in the meantime I welcome you to take advantage of every comfort we can offer."

Hector called over one of the guards and had the guard give both Rock and Ness metal badges, "You'll need these while you're in town. These will allow you to travel freely within Pherae. Simply ask and you will be treated to whatever you need."

Eliwood bowed to the boys, "Now, if you'll excuse us, I must see to legislative matters."

Ness and Rock bowed to Eliwood and his family then set off to explore the town.

Unable to hold his comments any longer, Ness finally broke the silence, "Well that was awkward."

"No kidding…" Rock shook his head as they wandered the nearby streets.

The events still seemed to be weighing heavily on Ness, "What do you think of how this turned out?"

Rock rubbed his temples as he thought everything out, "Honestly, I think we're in major luck to have the support of someone with as much authority as Eliwood. With him on our side it will make it a lot easier to get through other countries and convince people of our mission; we'll never have to worry about being turned away for not having pass papers again. And having trained soldiers to fight off threats will be a huge advantage too."

"When you put it like that it makes sense…" Ness agreed.

"But it definitely doesn't _feel_ right," Rock voiced as well.

"Yeah…" Ness agreed.

"Let's not worry about it for now, we have a whole city to explore!" Rock immediately cheered up like a switch was flipped. Ness couldn't help but return to a better mood as well as they strode off to put their passes to use.

From the city center, the boys found a guide to show them around. The guide was a little eccentric, wearing a strange green jumpsuit and pointy hat, but they went along with it as he seemed to be the expert on maps, "If hunger is what is amiss, then the street you need is Talys! Smiths and forges break the iron crust, for weapons you should seek out good ol' Grust! And magic here is pristine, for enchanted artifacts and spells you should turn down Khadein. Kooloo-Limpah!"

Ness scratched his head and leaned closer to Rock to whisper, "I hope this isn't how everyone around here is like…"

"I…" Rock's eyebrow lifted as their guide skipped ahead of them, "...don't think so."

"There you are!" A now familiar voice called from behind.

Ness and Rock turned to find Roy and Pit walking towards them. Ness immediately noticed Roy was in a better mood than when he last saw him.

"I'm sorry for earlier," Roy began, "We hardly know each other and you had to see my father and I fighting, that was really impolite on both our parts."

"Don't worry about it," Ness tried waving it off right away, "It's one of those things that nobody really knows how to react to. I'm sure if Onett hadn't been in the middle of being attacked by the Golden Empire that my mom would have had much more to say about me being the Champion of Thunder than she did."

Roy and Pit immediately tilted their heads sideways, "Attacked by the Golden Empire?"

Ness let out a frustrated huff, "Yeah, the day I found out I was this champion was the same day airships from the empire surrounded my hometown and burned it to the ground. But I'm hoping that once we have all the champions together that we will be able to drive the empire out of the lands they've conquested over."

Roy and Pit shared a concerned look with each other that was hard for Ness to read, "The empire…"

"You know about them?" Ness pushed immediately.

"Don't worry about it," Roy tried brushing it off, "What are you going to do while you're in Pherae?"

"We don't really know yet," Ness looked over to their tour guide who was patiently waiting, "Really we're just getting to see around town and find out what's here first."

Roy perked up and stepped forward towards Ness, "Do you mind if we join you? It would be great to spend some time with another champion before you go on."

"Definitely!" Ness replied excitedly.

Roy turned to the guide, "Then please lead on Tingle."

The green clad man began to skip ahead again, "Onwards, forwards, and upwards! Kooloo Limpah!"

Tingle led the small group to points of interest and entertainment. Ness was captivated by several bards and puppeteers who put on outdoor performances in bazaars and amphitheaters. A local smith offered to fashion the beetle carapace pieces into scale mails. Eventually they all found themselves in a museum dedicated to the history of Lycia. There were plaques, paintings, and statues, depicting everything from eras of dragons, to wars with dark mages.

Several portraits commemorated events of only twenty years prior, the defeat of a group called The Black Fang. Ness's eyes widened at one of the portraits, "Hey Roy, is that…"

Roy nodded as he stood by Ness's side, "My father, at the fall of Nergal."

"Your father must be pretty tough," Ness walked along the hallway taking in all the pictographs.

"Of course he is," Roy scratched his head as he followed Ness, "He was seventeen when war broke out and threatened all of Lycia. He fought off terrible creatures, Morphs he called them, like the living dead. He doesn't actually talk about it much, I've heard more from Uncle Hector than my father."

"Sounds like it must have been rough," Ness sounded sympathetic as he looked as portraits depicting monsters of the war.

"I'm sure but…" Roy let his sentence get away from him.

Ness noticed Roy breathing deeply as he walked beside him, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I've just been a little… warm? Yeah… since you gave me that fire shard…" Roy pulled on his collar then lifted his headband to wipe at his forehead.

"Do you need anything?" Ness offered politely.

"Not necessarily…" Roy mumbled, "I don't feel bad really… it's just…"

Ness nodded, "Yeah, I think I understand. When I got my shard it was like I could feel it building up energy, like inside me. It's hard to explain, but I remember it left me feeling super sensitive to everything, definitely not bad… but it takes a while to get used to feeling your clothes rubbing against you, then your heart pounds like it wants to jump out of your chest, and I remember focusing so hard on breathing calmly that I was tripping on my own feet but it was better to do that then look like a freak." Ness lowered his voice so only Roy could hear, "All of that also makes you feel good, like… _really_ good."

Roy couldn't help but laugh at how Ness described it, "Yeah, that's it exactly! I'm glad then that this is kind of… normal?"

Both boys laughed, "Normal is probably out the window for us now."

Once they settled down, Roy looked much more at ease, "Thank you for being honest about… this sort of thing."

Ness let Roy put an arm over his shoulder, "Us champions of the elements have gotta look out for each other."

"Definitely," Roy looked into Ness's violet eyes, "I'll be looking out for you whether my father agrees with it or not."

"Huh?" Ness cocked his head wondering if he heard what he thought he heard.

"I'll explain later," Roy separated from him and rejoined the others, "Tingle, what's on the menu for tonight's tour de supper?"

"Apologies for the time did escape me, towards our next destination and food we must flee! Kooloo Limpah!" Tingle skipped his way out of the museum the boys walking normally behind him.

Everyone enjoyed a rowdy dinner at a local dining hall that specialized in open pit grilling of large portions. The locals sang tavern songs as they drank into the evening and tried to teach their tunes to the foreign boys.

After a large meal and a party that the locals assured took place on a nightly basis, the boys returned to Roy's family estate.

"Check it out," Rock grinned as he saw the beetle scale armor had been delivered while they were gone, "They did a pretty good job with it, definitely leaves fewer gaps for magical attacks to break through," he leaned in and took a sniff, "And the buzzy smell is gone too!"

"Oh yeah," Ness blushed as he realized the odor he must have been carrying with him, "I guess I had gotten used to the smell and forgot about it."

"Yeah, so how about you go take a bath while we have the chance," Rock almost urged Ness out the door, "I'll take one after you."

"Sure!" Ness grabbed his clean undergarments from his bag before leaving to the house baths. It took a little time for Ness to wash away the days of ick and beetle that lingered from wearing bug shells for a week. Eventually he was dressed in his sleeping clothes and was wandering back up the empty halls of the manor.

The hallways of the manor were half covered, half open gardens. Turning down any corner of the house could lead you outside into a courtyard that had an open view of the stars in the sky.

Everything was quiet, as Ness used his towel to rub water out of his ear. As he moved the towel away from his head he just barely picked up on a strange noise. At first he thought maybe he imagined it, or maybe it was just the wick of his towel close to his head. He heard it again though and stopped in his tracks.

At first Ness was a little defensive in the unfamiliar open environment, but then he was able to tell it was definitely coming from a room. He was fairly certain the particular hall he was in was Roy's hall. Curiosity got the better of him as he tiptoed closer to the door and put his ear against it.

Closer to the source, Ness was able to hear something like a slurping sound. Part of Ness told him that everything was probably fine and that he should just go back to his room. His sense of curiosity though demanded to know what was going on. Deciding that a peak into the room wouldn't hurt anything, Ness very quietly cracked the door open.

Through the door, Ness was able to make out what was definitely Roy's bedroom. The bed was undisturbed in front of the door. An armoire was open to the left and in a messy state. Again Ness heard the slurp noise, and now that he was closer could also make out what sounded like a moan. His eyes widened as he looked to the right.

In front of Ness, Roy sat at his desk chair, he wore only a dark red silk shirt. His pants were bunched at his ankles. Between Roy's legs was most certainly Pit. Roy's hands were buried in messy brown hair, Pit's face was being held tightly against Roy's nether regions.

Another slurp came from the scene, and Ness was definitely able to gauge now that the slurp was coming from Pit's mouth. The light bulb finally clicked in Ness's head that Roy's penis was inside Pit's mouth.

Roy let out a deep breath and moan as Pit moved his head up and down, letting the shaft slide against his lips, "Oh gosh that's good…"

Pit pulled his mouth off of Roy entirely, but kept his girth constrained in a tight grip of his left hand, "You really needed this." Pit leaned in and ran his tongue against the underside of Roy's shaft down to his testicles. His face hardly moved back, "I'm sorry if today was really stressful."

Roy clenched his eyes tight as Pit took him into his mouth once again, "It was but… there was more to it than that…" Roy couldn't help but moan again as Pit hummed an acknowledgement without lifting his mouth off. "Ness warned that the crystal energy makes you feel sensitive and… ahhh… _really good_..."

Pit sucked a few more times before pulling his head back from Roy's erection, "You are definitely hot to the touch, almost feverish. But it's a great heat, I can't really describe it either." Immediately Pit returned to engulfing Roy's large member. He groaned on top of the obscene slurping noises his mouth was already making.

From the doorway, Ness had to adjust his own erection. He leaned back and looked around to make sure no one else was anywhere nearby, but as before the rest of the house was completely silent. There was a voice within him that felt guilty and told him to close the door and go back to his room. The curiosity in him though had been replaced by arousal. He had to admit to himself that he had never seriously thought before that he or his friends could do something like that with their mouths to make each other feel really good. He found himself wondering how good it actually felt and what else Roy and Pit might know that he didn't.

The way even Roy's face tightened in concentration and then loosened in bliss seemed to imply that the pleasure must have been intense. Roy's fingers mussed Pit's hair even worse than before, but Pit actually made even louder moaning sounds each time Roy's hands would tighten on his scalp. Ness could just make out the look on Pit's face, the way his eyes were squeezed tight as well as the shaft that sliding in and out of the suction his mouth was providing. This had to be one of the most exciting and arousing things Ness had ever seen and there was no way he could turn away now.

Pit's hand gripped at the base of Roy's shaft. He pointed the hard rod straight up as he leaned back and slowly slid his mouth off over the top. With only his tongue he swiped at the slit at the top and then licked down the sides of the head and under the glands.

"Oh gosh Pit!" Roy's leg muscles spasmed, sending vibrations through his entire body as Pit's tongue continued to play with his penis. Roy's eyes clenched tight, and he took deep breaths through his open mouth, though if Pit's tongue touched the right spot then Roy's jaw would close tight and he'd breathe through his teeth.

Pit's tongue poked out through his sly smile and continued its work as his eyes kept a close watch on Roy's facial expressions. He purposefully teased Roy by swiping his tongue gently over sensitive areas. Again his tongue slid down the underside of Roy's shaft and lapped at the balls underneath.

"Please…" Roy groaned, "I really need to cum, please make me cum…"

The tongue moved away from Roy's saliva slickened member. The cooler air in the room made Roy shudder. Pit slid his hand up and down the wet pole as he leaned back to say, "As you wish."

Roy gulped as Pit's mouth returned to its prior charge.

Ness's mouth slowly fell open as he watched Pit vigorously bob his head up and down Roy's manhood. The sounds became louder as Pit sucked hard while moving as fast as he could.

Roy couldn't help but buck his hips up into the source of his pleasure. His head leaned back, his eyes lidded mostly closed, and he bit his lower lip to stifle his own cries. His entire body was shifting back and forth in the chair in rhythm with Pit.

Pit's hands gripped tightly at Roy's smooth thighs as he rubbed the sensitive skin that was normally hidden from any light. His tongue swished all around Roy's tool as he continued his aggressive assault, determined to see Roy to his climax.

Roy took in a deep breath as he suddenly leaned forward. Pit could feel the expansion of the shaft in his mouth and knew this was it and gripped tightly onto Roy's jewels as they pulled up. Roy's arms reached around Pit's head for something to hold onto as waves of ecstasy coursed through his entire body. His eyes opened and gave off a brief red glow that momentarily altered the hue of the room.

Amazement filled Ness's expression as the glow settled and he watched the definite signs of Pit's throat expanding as he swallowed down any evidence of what had just happened.

Roy fell back into a slouched position in his chair as he tried to regain his breath. He swallowed hard himself before trying to speak, "That was great, thank you."

"Of course, is there anything else you need?" Pit spoke courteously, as if he were providing a service, but the subdued chuckling from both of them spoke of an inside joke they were both sharing the punchline of.

Very gently, Ness pulled the door closed. He took several seconds just to turn the doorknob back into its latch. He adjusted himself again before he hurried back towards his room. His mind was still on fire with what he had just witnessed as he did his best to try and calm himself down by thinking of disgusting things, "Asparagus, broccoli, carrots, dill, eggplant, figs, green beans…"

Ness was truly confused as to how he should be feeling. There was a strong sense of guilt over having spied on something so personal. It was also difficult not to keep replaying the images in his mind. He wondered if he should talk to Rock about what he saw, or would that make it even weirder?

Ness pushed open the door to the room he was sharing with Rock. Rock looked up from the notes he was examining on a table, "Hey, that took a while." He noticed the flushed look on Ness's face, "Is the water pretty hot here?"

Quickly Ness nodded, "Yeah, it's… _hot_ …"

"Awesome! I'll go use it next then, be right back!" Rock grabbed his clothes and ran out.

Ness watched the door close behind Rock and the room became completely quiet. Ness sat down on the bed and stared at nothing. For a moment he stayed completely still, his focus entirely internal. Several minutes passed then let out a grunt before he reached for a pillow, buried his face into it, and fell to his side.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Apologies for this chapter taking so long. I know… I've got issues…

Something exciting happened during the break though, I got more fanart! #captainlifegamer on Tumblr drew some awesome pics of Ness and Rock, they're on my Tumblr, though admittedly they've sunken a bit down the list of posts.

I swear I've cut more off this chapter before publishing than any other chapter of any story I've ever written. This would have been ten pages longer but I realized there was an entire segment at the beginning I had written that was completely unnecessary to story progression… so to save us all from dealing with it I chopped the chapter up, and we're continuing on without it. Hopefully I took out all the references to things that no longer happened… but if I find any others I'll edit them out later. Even still this chapter turned out long! Hope it was enjoyable. I had actually been waiting to get to both the fight scene and the sex scene in this chapter for a long time.

Please let me know what you think in a review, thanks!


	9. Together We Ride

Thank you, everyone, who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

Ness and Rock arrived in Pherae in search of the new Champion of Fire. After being denied entrance to the city for not possessing the proper paperwork, the boys were left with little other choice but to find a way to sneak inside. After finding an area of the wall that appeared to be scalable, the two began their climb up the tall structure. Before they reached the top they were spotted by a guard who began lobbing arrows at them. Rock told Ness to stay out of the fight as he challenged the guard himself. The two clashed over the wall and into the city. After it appeared that Rock was on the verge of losing the battle, Ness intervened and blasted the guard with his lightning magic, only to find out the tussle was friendlier than it appeared as Rock was familiar with the guard named Pit.

Stationed in Pherae as the personal bodyguard to the Grand Duke's son, Roy, Pit was able to help Ness and Rock make the acquaintance of the Grand Duke Eliwood and his family. When Ness told the duke of their mission and pulled out Mario's enchanted hat, it came to light that Roy was new Champion of Fire. Reactions from Roy's family were mixed as Eliwood forbade Roy from adventuring out with Ness and Rock as he felt his studies were far more important, and offered that he and Hector would accompany the boys in Roy's place. Ness wasn't thrilled with how things turned out, but met up with Roy and Pit again as they toured Pherae at which point Roy promised he'd find a way to accompany them despite his father's wishes.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 8: Together We Ride****

* * *

One eye slowly opened, then the other, "Where?"

The black haired boy slowly sat up. He was on a makeshift bed in what appeared to be an attic.

"You're awake!" A girl's voice called quietly from a corner of the room.

"Tracy?" the girl put a finger to her mouth to quickly shush the boy.

"Shh, not so loud Ninten, no one knows you're here," the girl kneeled beside her cousin and felt his head, "Your fever finally broke, we were so worried for a while."

"What?" Ninten was completely confused. "What's going on?"

"You were poisoned," Suddenly the memories started rushing back into Ninten's head, the night the empire attacked, the battle in the middle of town, and then something stabbed his neck. "You've been asleep for over a week. You had a bad fever most of that time and no one knew how long you would stay asleep for."

"Where's Ness, what's happened since then?!" Ninten began working himself up as he scrambled off the mattress.

"Keep it down, you never know if someone might be walking close by," Tracy shushed him again.

Ninten ran to the slit covers of the attic and twisted one open to see outside. The first thing he noticed were the two airships that were circling around the city. Another one was docked in the city center down at the bottom of the hill, and soldiers of the Golden Empire marched openly through the streets, "This…"

"Onett was declared empire territory after that night," Tracy began to explain. "Mom and I got jobs making deliveries across town to earn ration tickets."

Ninten's mouth dropped as he continued to stare at the outside. Swiftly he closed the shutter, "Where's Ness and Rock?"

Tracy sighed, "They had to run away. That night, they brought you back home, but the empire knew who you all were. Mom said that Ness is part of a legend now, that he's the Champion of Thunder, and because of that he had to run away before the empire could find him. Rock went with him to protect him. Mom was able to hide you so when the empire's soldiers searched the house she was able to say all three of you left the city."

Ninten sank back down to his bed, "I should be out there with them…"

"It'll be okay Ninten, we just need to keep you hidden for a while longer." Tracy sat down beside her cousin, "I'm sure Ness is just fine wherever he is."

"Yeah…" Ninten let out a sigh, "He better be…"

Morning light once again woke Ness from a restless sleep. He realized it looked a little later than he normally slept to and sat up in bed while scratching his messy hair.

"Good morning," Rock looked over from his tinkering, "You don't look like you slept well.

"Not really…" Ness grumbled as he stretched and climbed out from under the covers.

Rock noticed the bags under Ness's eyes but decided against adjusting his response to better suit Ness's mood, "Sorry, the hot water was so relaxing I was out as soon as I lied down."

Still groggy, Ness tripped over nothing. Ness reached out for something to hold onto but caught only the bed coverings which were easily pulled off the mattress as Ness fell to the floor. A frustrated grunt came from the ground on the other side of the bed once everything settled. Rock gently cleared his throat, "Maybe you should get dressed and we'll go get some breakfast."

"Sounds… good…" came the sleepy disembodied reply.

A short while later, the door to the guest room finally opened as one boy stepped out looking prepared for the day, and the other hid his face in the shadows as he avoided looking in the direction of the sun.

Ness nearly plowed into Rock's backside when the boy in front came to a halt and said, "Good morning everyone!"

"Morning you two," Roy waved and casually led Pit and Lilina toward the two guests.

"Yeah…" Ness turned away as he could feel himself blushing from the memories of the previous night that still refused to stop replaying in his head, "morning…"

"He didn't sleep well," Rock explained, "He'll be in a much better mood after some breakfast."

The smile on Roy's face widened, "We were on our way to find breakfast in town, would you like to join us?"

Ness tried to subtly get Rock's attention but Rock was already speaking on reflex, "Of course, that'd be great!" With an unnoticed sigh of exasperation, Ness followed behind Rock and the others.

Pit jumped onto Rock's side and draped an arm over his shoulder, "Hey Rock, let me see one of your metal disks!"

Rock lifted one eyebrow at Pit, "Why?"

A nervous hum echoed into Rock's ear, "I've been practicing my metal magic and I want to see if I can change their shape."

"You can't use metal magic on something that already has a metal enchantment on it," Rock sounded annoyed as he explained.

"But I've been practicing, that's why I wanna try!" Pit begged.

Rock narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "All the more reason to keep them far away from you."

Lilina laughed as she walked along Roy's side, "You can tell they've known each other for a while."

"What gives it away? The way Pit is trying to mooch or the way Rock can already tell that Pit will break something if he gives in?" Pit glared over the back of Rock's shoulder at Roy for a moment before he went back to pleading.

Ness's eyes kept shifting between Roy and Lilina as they laughed together, but he still refused to make eye contact with anyone.

Once at the restaurant, Pit had yet to give up on his quest to convince Rock of his trustworthiness and had Rock pinned against the wall on one side of the table while Lilina and Roy sat on the other side. Ness gulped as he realized he had no choice but to sit beside either Pit or Roy.

"This side is probably safer," Roy read the apprehension in Ness's face, even if he wasn't correct on its cause, and patted the seat beside him.

"Thanks," Ness barely whispered as he quickly sat down and went back to looking away from everyone.

Roy tried pointing to something on Ness's menu, "You should definitely try the mutton while you're here, these guys know how to cook it so it comes out juicy and not so tough, the flavor just explodes in your mouth. I don't think many other countries make it like we do."

Ness gulped nervously and tried not to blush again at the way Roy described the dish as ' _explodes in your mouth'_ , "I'll try it, thanks." Immediately he shoved his face back into the menu.

The response was a little odd, Roy and Lilina looked at each other and both shrugged so Lilina leaned forward to try striking up a conversation, "So now that you've found the Champion of Fire, where are you going to be travelling to next?"

Ness looked up from the menu as a realization dawned on him, "I… I don't know…"

Rock saw the distressed look on Ness's face and pulled out the notes he'd brought with him, "Actually, that's what I was working on last night."

A look of relief washed over Ness, "I'm glad you think ahead on these things."

Rock grinned and tapped on the pad, "We were lucky to end up in the Mushroom Kingdom where we got our hands on a relic that belonged to the old champion of fire, Mario, to help us find Roy, but now we're going to need help finding the other champions or we'll just end up wandering forever."

Lilina looked over Rock's list, "What are you suggesting?"

"We're missing four of the new champions now," Rock began to explain, "If we were able to get our hands on items that belonged to the four old champions then maybe we could get them enchanted again by someone like Princess Peach to find the other new champions."

"Enchanted to find the new champions?" Lilina looked up as she thought, "You mean like how a successor potion would?"

The others at the table stared at her oddly. Roy was the one to ask, "A what?"

Lilina rolled her eyes, "Have you really been so concerned with using magic solely to create fireballs that you paid no attention to what else it's capable of?"

"Ummm…" Roy rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"A successor potion," Lilina began, "Is typically used to divine insight towards the successor of powerful leaders. Religious sects have used them for centuries to find their next overseers, and they've even been used in monarchs to resolve disputes when there is no clear heir to the throne."

"That sounds exactly like what we need!" Rock bolstered excitedly, "How does it work?"

"Extremely simple," Lilina made a motion with her hand as if she were holding something in her left and pouring something onto it with her right, "The hard part is mixing the potion, once you have it simply pour it over an item of great importance to the predecessor and the item will guide you to the proper successor."

Ness nodded as he took in the information, "That's how Mario's hat led us to Roy."

"I was more surprised that Mario's hat found Roy without components or a potion," Lilina tilted her eyes in thought, "Princess Peach must be extremely powerful…"

Ness closed his eyes to remember clearly, "And that was while she was trapped in a painting too…" He shook his head as a new concern crossed his mind, "Wait, where do we even find stuff that belonged to the old champions?"

Both Rock and Lilina grimaced as the notepad was passed across the table, "We may have to visit all the lands they came from…"

Roy took the pad next and read off the listed locations, "Earth, Kong Island; Wind, Hyrule; Ice, Altea; Water, Dreemlund."

"I picked up a map yesterday," Rock unrolled a world map and placed it on the table, "We're in Lycia right now, on the eastern continent. Altea is to the north, but it's a long way off. If we go south though we can take a ferry through these island chains to Hyrule, then hopefully find a larger ship to sail out to Kong Island and Dreemlund, and eventually make our way back around to Altea."

"Sounds like a long trip," Pit took the map and leaned back in his seat.

"It's going to be longer that that even," Rock plucked the map back out of Pit's hands. The brown haired boy scowled at Rock but didn't say anything, "Remember, that will only get us the items we need to hopefully find the new champions. We'll still have to travel to wherever they are and actually find them."

"Oh yeah," Ness sulked in his seat, "This could take a while…"

Rock grinned, "You weren't expecting an overnight trip were you?"

"No… but…" Suddenly Ness appeared very downcast, and Rock felt he had a good understanding as to why.

"I know… But try not to worry too much about home for now. And besides…" Rock motioned to the area on the map where Onett was, "There's no reason we couldn't make a stop in Eagleland once we're back on the western continent."

The statement made Ness grin.

"Like Roy said yesterday, this is an adventure," Rock winked at the champions across the table, "we have to enjoy it to make sure we're saving a world worth living in."

"That's right!" Roy cheered and wrapped an arm over Ness's shoulder. With a plan in place, Ness's mood obviously lifted. Though he blushed yet again as he realized Roy still had his arm draped around his shoulder.

"Sorry for the wait," The moment was broken by the server who took their order. The conversation continued more lively between everyone now that matters pertaining to their impending mission were settled.

As Rock had predicted, Ness found the awkward feeling he'd dwelled in before breakfast subsided after having a good meal. The group left the restaurant, Ness walked alongside Roy and Lilina and joined in their conversation and joking. They proved easy to talk to which made Ness unable to keep himself from wondering out loud, "Do you two like… _like_ each other?"

Roy and Lilina both stopped, their eyes widened, they looked at each other, and in the same moment began to laugh. Ness scratched his head in confusion until Lilina explained, "Don't get me wrong, I _love_ Roy, and I know he loves me, but…"

"...I call her father uncle as she does mine. There is definitely no romance there," Roy completed the sentence.

"And besides…" Lilina put a hand to her chin as she looked Ness up and down. Ness's became slightly nervous under the scrutiny. Lilina finally looked back over to Roy and nodded, "Mmm-hmm."

She just walked away as Roy shook his head and followed leaving Ness feeling even more bewildered, "What does that mean?"

"Well…" Lilina sang out teasingly.

"Don't you dare!" Roy demanded.

"I didn't say anything!" Lilina defended herself.

"You're implying it!" Roy began to look flustered.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lilina grinned and skipped ahead.

Ness gulped as he watched her go, "Should I be worried?"

Roy shook his head, "I'll explain later… maybe…"

The group turned the last corner towards Roy's family manor and immediately Ness ground his feet to a halt. Everyone turned around to see Ness staring forward, wide eyed and obviously anxious.

Rock hurried back to Ness's side, "What's wrong?"

Ness pointed a finger forward, "That carriage… it's the same one that was at the Minch's house the day Onett was…"

Roy finally noticed the out of place carriage, painted black but garnished in gold, "The Golden Empire… they're here…"

In a flash Roy ran forward, past Pit who shook his head vigorously as he watched Roy run, "Wait!" Pit dashed after Roy. Lilina was close behind.

Rock remained by Ness's side making sure he was alright, "We should see what's going on."

Ness nodded and the two ran after the others.

"Hurry, this way!" Pit waited at a door for Ness and Rock to catch up. Once inside, Pit led them down another hall and up a stairway.

Roy leaned against a door with his ear pressed up against it as he tried to listen to the discussions inside. Pit looked really anxious as he ran past the others and leaned against the door beside Roy, "I didn't think the reps from the empire were supposed to be here until tomorrow?"

"They weren't!" Roy spoke in a quiet but firm voice.

"You knew the empire was coming here?!" Ness exclaimed a little too loudly and was hushed by Roy and Pit.

Roy closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry. Yes, I was going to tell you when you mentioned that it was the Empire that attacked your home, but I was hoping we'd have time today to go through the whole story. Instead they're here a day early and I need to know what's going on." The boys could hear the sounds of a loud discussion coming through door, but it was still too difficult to discern what the voices were saying.

Roy looked to the others and whispered, "The room on the other side is a balcony overlooking the meeting hall. When I open the door stay low and get to the banister. We should be able to listen in on what's going on without being seen."

Everyone nodded as Roy very quietly opened the door and let the others inside before silently closing the door behind him.

Immediately the discussion became clearer, "With the treaty now officialized in Lycia it is only a matter of it being ratified by the city-states such as Pherae and Ostia. I believe you'll find everything in order with our proposal."

Five heads stealthily looked over the railing; below they could make out Eliwood and Hector seated at one side of the table, while two men in dark clothes sat across from them.

Rock leaned in very close to Pit's ear and whispered, "Do you smell that?"

Pit nodded, "I can't quite put my finger on what it is…"

Eliwood seemed to be nodding as he read through the documentation, "So, in exchange for coming to the aid of any territory of the empire that is within proximity to Lycia, the empire will permanently bolster the defenses of our city-states?"

"Indeed," the embassador from the empire was cloaked in a black cape and wore a hat that draped down his back that slightly concealed his greyish pale skin and hair, "We are prepared to station two hundred troops in Pherae alone."

"Sounds like it's quite a deal…" Hector leaned back in his seat as he read through the papers regarding Ostia, "What are the territories that the empire is so concerned with protecting in the area?"

"There are seven nearby," A fat man with a twisted mustache spoke with a tone that made the listeners above shiver, "These territories are under almost constant threat from a neighboring kingdom."

Hector squinted his eyes, "You're talking about the autonomous territories which used to comprise The Mushroom Kingdom?"

"The Mushroom Kingdom is long since defunct I'm afraid," The cloaked man shook his head, "What remains are splinter cells of terrorist groups with aspirations of wreaking havoc upon the land the empire wishes so desperately to make peaceful and successful once again."

Eliwood took a deep breath, "We are not interested in aiding in any further expansion of the empire, nor would we assist in any attack on the sovereignty of another nation."

"Most definitely not," the cloaked man pointed to something on the document, "This treaty specifically states that our alliance only binds us to aid in each other's defense."

"Very well," Eliwood took a quill and dipped in ink.

Ness took in a deep breath and tried to stand as though he was about to interrupt, but Rock quickly put a hand around his mouth to pull him back and keep him quiet.

The quill approached the the parchment.

"WAIT!" Roy clenched his eyes knowing what he was doing was a bad idea, but he looked again at the panicked expression on Ness's face and stood so he could be seen by everyone below..

"Roy?! What are you doing?" Eliwood stood from the meeting table and looked up to the observation deck.

Roy gave the others a weak smile before he flipped over the banister and landed to the side of the meeting table below.

"Remain hidden," Lilina whispered to the others before she stood in order to be seen as well.

Hector grinned and shook his head as Roy approached his father.

"Do you have a good reason for interrupting a treaty negotiation, son?" Eliwood's stern voice boomed through the room.

"I am sorry father, I meant to speak with you prior to this meeting, but it seems it began earlier than expected," Roy eyed the representatives of the empire carefully as he approached his father.

"Speak your point son," Eliwood seemed eager to rush through.

Roy took a deep breath and tried to speak in the most calm voice he could muster, "Only that I believe we need more time to fully understand this treaty with the empire. I believe it would be best to take more time to weigh out all of the conditions."

The large man from the empire became aggravated, "The conditions of the treaty have already been thoroughly vetted by the central republic of Lycia. Are you trying to insinuate that you're own Lycian League is unfit to properly draft foreign treaties?"

"That's not what I meant at all," Roy refused to look at the man behind him and continued to give his father an imploring look, "I'm only inferring that we in Pherae should fully understand our commitment to the treaty before we sign it."

Eliwood's eyes narrowed as he gauged his son's words, "That's reasonable, now tell me the truth of why you want to delay the signing."

Roy cringed as his father saw through his attempt at diplomacy, "I would rather speak of it in private father…"

"You've gone as far as interrupt an important assembly," The harsh tone in Eliwood's voice even caused Hector to look concerned, "You will speak the truth and do so quickly."

"I have reasons to doubt the empire's sincerity," Roy quickly responded.

"That is preposterous! Under what grounds do you make such a claim?" The large man yelled out in aggravation.

Roy finally turned to face the two empirical representatives, "I've received information that a republic by the name of Eagleland in the western continent was attacked by the empire without provocal cause, and this news has caused me to have some doubts in relation to the empire."

The two men looked at each other for a moment. Roy couldn't read their expressions, but the large man then broke into a wide confident grin, "I'm actually quite familiar with the situation in Eagleland. My brother is the Gamgi representing the empire in the area. I can assure you the empire was begged by the people to intervene."

"How so?" Eliwood seemed to take an interest in the story.

"The empire was contacted by the citizens of a northern town in Eagleland, I believe Onett is the name," The large man twisted his mustache as he spoke, "The Eagleland government seized all the farms and food production resources of the nation and then hoarded the food from its own citizens. The empire found the people of Eagleland starving while government warehouses were overflowing with food and supplies. The empire had the decency to feed the people of another nation, and when the military of Eagleland attempted to force the end of our charity we were left with no choice by to defend ourselves."

The hair of everyone in the room began to stand slightly as the static level raised. Ness shook in rage, his fist clenched so tight his knuckles turned white. Rock continued to hold him close to try and provide some kind of emotional comfort. Rock hoped the the representatives of the empire wouldn't detect the sudden scent of ozone filling the room. Hidden under the ozone there was definitely a second odor and Rock was growing concerned that it was getting stronger.

"That's terrible," Eliwood shook his head, "That a nation would act in such blatant disregard for its people is appalling."

"Father!" Roy turned and was about to argue further.

"That's enough Roy," Eliwood silenced Roy before he could say anything more, "You made your concern known and Gamgi Wario has addressed it; the time for debate has ended."

Roy held his hand out as Eliwood dipped the quill once again and without hesitation signed the treaty, "Gamgi Wario, Gamgi Vaati, I look forward to a mutually beneficial alliance between our states."

"Most certainly," Vaati clapped his hands, "And Sir Hector?"

Hector sighed as he brushed his pen over the Ostian papers as well.

Vaati elatedly retrieved the documents, "This calls for a celebration, Nabooru!"

Roy was taken by surprise, he had completely failed to notice the woman standing behind the Gamgis. Even now that he knew she was there, it was difficult to watch her movement, as if his perception of her was askew.

From the pitcher Nabooru carried, a dark liquid was poured into all of the chalices on the table, "The finest wine from the Spools of Holodrum."

Eliwood and Hector rubbed their eyes as well as the wine was poured. Eliwood nodded in Nabooru's direction, "Thank you."

"Then our meeting may conclude," Wario stood from the seat across the table, "We still have important business to address while in your fine city."

"Oh?" Eliwood looked surprised at the offhanded comment, "What sort of business?"

Vaati calmly replied, "One of the highest priorities we've been given is to seek out the crystal shards of the grand elements. Our scryers detected a very strong probability that one was in Pherae yesterday."

Roy's eyes widened for a moment but he tried not to let on that he knew anything, "Why is the empire collecting the elemental shards?"

"After the champions failure," The bite in Wario's tone unmistakeable as he mentioned the champions, "the empire has taken it upon themselves to collect the shards and find another means of bringing the elements under control."

Eliwood looked curious, "How does the empire intend to do this?"

Vaati's cape ruffled through the air as he turned to answer Eliwood, "The crystal forms of the elements are, in essence, physical binds to their aetherial power. Our intention is to collect every shard of every crystal in order to trap the element within it. With the crystal acting as a prison, the power can be allowed to flow slowly and avoid any major global catastrophes."

"I see," Eliwood nodded, "But what of the legends that state new champions will rise to save the world?"

Vaati began to laugh, "While I cannot fault you for clinging to hope in such childish tales, the truth of the matter is the people of this world placed their faith in the fulfillment of such a providence once already this generation. It is not in the official belief of the empire that there will be a second set of champions of the six elemental aspects. I am certain, however, if the legend were to come to pass that the empire would take great interest in recruiting them into the cause to bring everlasting peace upon the globe."

"That is quite the noble endeavor," Eliwood nodded to the Gamgis and lifted his chalice, "A toast, to this everlasting peace."

The four men at the table lifted their chalices high before holding them to their mouths. Vaati and Wario watched their two opposites carefully before putting their chalices down. "Duke Eliwood, Duke Hector, we thank you for your hospitality," Vaati bowed, "Please do inform us if you come into any news, even rumours which may assist us in finding the shards of the elements."

"We will have to convene again soon on such matters, now however I'm sure there is other business I must see to," Eliwood cast a glance at his son before seeing the Gamgis out of the hall.

Roy remained where he stood as the door closed. Lilina led the others to another staircase and into a back door into the meeting hall. Eliwood scowled at Roy as he returned to his seat, "I cannot begin to express the embarrassment you caused today."

A shocked expression fell over Roy's face, "Embarrassment? Father you're not…"

Eliwood cut his son off before he could explain, "What on earth were you thinking?! Jumping off the balcony in a reckless display of self-import in front of official diplomats? And then to indulge in such baseless accusations!"

"Sir," Ness lifted his hand nervously, "What Roy said about the empire was true, I was there. The empire was the one who tried to burn the food that Eagleland meant for the people to have, and when the people stood up to the empire they were attacked, doomships fired on my hometown with no warning. They hurt and even killed lots of innocent people just because they didn't get what they wanted."

Eliwood shook his head, "While I mean no disrespect to your inherited title, you are obviously still a child who does not understand the world. You cannot be expected to understand the subtleties of politics and find truth with the knowledge of only that which you can see."

"Father, this isn't like you!" Roy shouted again, "My whole life I've known you to be wise, thoughtful, and considerate of all possibilities, why today is everything so different?"

Eliwood rose a hand as if he were about to argue, but shook his head and rubbed his hand against his temple, "There's no need… to consider that... which is certain…"

Both Roy and Ness watched the man in confusion when Rock snapped his finger, "That smell, of course! It's an alchemical incense that's putting everyone in a state of heightened emotion!"

All eyes looked up to Rock. Pit nodded as well, "It had to have been that woman in the room, Nabooru! I knew it was weird that I could hardly even look at her!"

Rock nodded, "And the two Gamgis of course knew about the effect and used it to push their agenda with less question. When Roy jumped in, he introduced an unstable element into their plan which is why tensions rose and they suddenly rushed to finish their business and leave, they knew their chances of being caught had skyrocketed."

The color began to drain from Eliwood's face, "You're saying the representatives of the empire used alchemical methods to sway the outcome of our meeting with one more favorable to them?"

"I'm sorry sir," Pit bowed, "I believe Rock is correct, we should have detected the scent sooner."

Eliwood's breathing was beginning to show signs of stress, "Find them… Have the Gamgis of the empire return at once!"

"Eli…" Hector gasped before he slumped from his seat.

Everyone's eyes widened in horror. Eliwood reached over towards his friend but then he too slumped forward, unable to breathe.

"FATHER!" Both Roy and Lilina rushed their father's aid.

"Oh no…" Rock climbed over the table and kneeled beside the two dukes, "No no no…"

Roy shook his father, anxiety climbing by the instant, "What happened?! What's wrong with them?!"

Rock looked over his shoulder at the goblets of wine which remained on the table, "...They've been poisoned." He held his hand over Eliwood's mouth, "No breath, this is the same poison they used on Ninten…"

Lilina immediately calmed herself, "I will find poison salves."

Rock took in a deep breath as he assessed the variables of the situation, "Ness, once the salve is administered it will be up to you to force their hearts to beat to get it moving through their blood, just like you helped Ninten."

"I can do that," Ness gulped as he readied himself.

Lilina ran back into the room with two small bottles in her hands as well as Lyn and Florina behind her, "Here are the salves."

"Perfect," Rock took one and prepared to inject Hector while Pit took care of Eliwood.

"That's all of it," Pit announced as he threw the bottle away.

Ness nodded as he rubbed his hands together to generate some static. With a gentle force, Ness put his hands against Eliwood's chest. The shock caused Eliwood's entire body to jump. Ness then repeated the process on Hector.

Rock felt for a pulse, and then checked for breathing, "I think that's going to work, they're both breathing again."

Roy began to shake Eliwood, "Father, can you hear me?"

Rock put his hand on Roy's arm, "It's still going to take time for the poison to run its course, I doubt they'll wake up before their bodies expel the toxins."

Roy bit his lip. His worried expression turned quickly into one of anger, "Pit, with me! We're going to find the Gamgis who did this!"

"Wait, Roy!" Lilina hurried to her feet as Roy stormed out of the room.

Ness watched anxiously as they left, "We have to help them!"

Rock nodded in agreement and they ran out as well.

Ahead Roy was moving at a brisk pace; he stopped at the armory to collect his sword before marching in the direction the carriage of the empire had been parked, "I swear, when I find them…"

Pit's solid plate armor formed around his body as he walked along Roy's side, "We should summon the rest of the guard, we don't know how many empirical troops we might be up against."

"They could have brought their entire army for all I care!" Roy reached the entrance to the estate and pushed the large gates open.

The sun was still hanging just over the top of the nearest building casting a glaring light at the gate as it opened. Once eyes adjusted to the light it was obvious the estate was indeed surrounded by a crowd of hundreds.

"There he is!" Came a shout from the crowd. They were not soldiers, Roy looked around and saw hundreds of faces he recognized as the citizens of Pherae. "The boy who would kill his own father!"

"What…?" Roy stood in shock as the crowd jeered angrily towards him.

"To think he would kill his own father just for money and power!"

"You should be ashamed boy!"

Rock grabbed onto Ness's arm, "This isn't good. This is very very not good."

Roy finally began to shake off some of the awe, "My father is not dead! The empire tried to have him assassinated, but we saved his life!"

"The boy lies!" A girl who stood out in the crowd, she wore heavy lipstick and had a huge pink bow in her hair that did not match the local style in the least, "Our duke Eliwood sought only to ensure the protection of Pherae through negotiations with the Empire, but his son feared his eventual plans of domination would ruined by the presence of an outside force!"

Roy's mouth hung open and he tried to call out again, "You can't believe that!"

Pit looked deeper into the crowd. Besides the girl who they had heard speak, there were several other strangers amongst the people. All of them appeared somewhat outlandish, but most importantly they were all making wild arm gestures as they spoke, and a faint smokey haze was spreading from their cuffs, "Do you see that?"

Rock grit his teeth, "More of that incense…"

Not only did the crowd continue to yell, but their facial features grew angrier, a group fury was settling in as if it was feeding off of itself.

The crowd began taking steps forward. Before they could come too close a powerful bolt of lightning dropped from the sky and struck Ness on his skyward pointing finger. The deafening crack of thunder was enough to stop the crowd from coming closer, "Listen to yourselves for a moment! Roy lives here, he's one of you! You all know him! Do you really think he would do something so horrible as kill his own father for money or power? Don't let the empire trick you! Manipulating people is a game they play, they're doing it here to you just as they did in Onett!"

"So who are you then?!" A voice shouted from the crowd.

Ness stared at the ground for a moment before he stepped forward and shouted back, "My name is Ness, and I'm the Champion of Thunder!"

The shouting stopped again for a moment, whispers began circulating through the crowd discussing the validity of the boy's claim.

The girl in the crowd wearing the lipstick turned around as if unsure what to do. Her gaze went to the back where the others finally saw the Gamgis from earlier. They made a hand gesture which seemed to deliver a message to the girl.

The girl began waving her arms again, spreading more smoke from her wristbands, "That can't be true! The Champions all abandoned us! Don't believe him!"

The crowd slowly began building up in ire again.

"Listen!" Roy hoped to use the momentary lull of emotion to make a logical appeal to the people, "There is much confusion right now I understand, but pray look around you and you'll see many amongst you who are outsiders seeking to turn us against each other. My father is alive, and everything can be concluded justly, but I need you all to calm down and listen to me!"

The appeal succeeded in quieting the people once again. The call for peace was then undone with a single question, "Where's the duke then if he's not dead?!"

"Yeah! Where is he?!"

"We demand to see Duke Eliwood!"

"He's…" Roy choked on his words as the people were quickly turning on him, "Unconscious…"

The people continued to take aggressive steps toward the estate.

Roy wasn't sure what to do. The actions which had seemed so clear to him moments ago were now buried in obscurity. He could just make out the site of the Gamgis standing behind the crowd. The smiles on their faces declared their victory without the need for words. How Roy wanted to push his way to them and deal them a crushing blow. Subconsciously Roy reached for his sword.

"Roy…" Lilina put her hand against Roy's before he could draw the weapon, "Your valor is not in question, you spoke of willingness to fight through the army of the empire to bring justice to those who hurt your father, but this is not their army, they are your people. You mustn't strike out against them!"

"Then what do I do?" Roy gulped as total uncertainty washed over him.

Lilina pulled him back as Rock and Pit hurriedly shut the gates to the manor and barricaded them.

Pit turned to Roy as soon as he had ensured the barricade bar would hold, "We have to run."

"This is my home!" Roy's fist shook as he seethed, "We can't just abandon Pherae!"

"It will not be abandoned!" Lilina turned Roy and stared deep into his eyes, "Mother and I, we will make all haste to Ostia with father and your parents. If we leave now we can arrive before the empire and secure Ostia against them. By the time your father awakens we will have allies in the Lycian League who will be ready to remove the empire's presence from Pherae."

Roy took a calming breath as he realized Lilina's plan was logically sound. Then he realized something was missing from the plan, "You and your mother, what of the rest of us?"

"Your destiny is elsewhere Roy," Lilina looked to the door as it shook from the people outside beginning to bash against it, "Ostia is in the wrong direction, you must travel south to the coast and gather the other champions of the elements."

"But…" Roy shook his head, "We should be keeping you safe…"

"Roy, _your mother_ will be with us," Lilina stated so flatly that Roy couldn't help but finally chuckle.

"Very well," Roy turned to Pit, "Prepare horses and supplies, I'll gather what I can and then we meet at the tunnel." Pit nodded and ran toward the stable. Roy turned to Ness and Rock next, "I'm sorry, it doesn't look like we'll be riding with the army of Pherae to find the rest of the champions."

Ness shook his head, "We make it work, that's how this all started and it's what we'll keep doing."

Roy grinned, "Then hurry and retrieve your belongings from your room, we don't have much time." The group split and quickly grabbed what they could. Eliwood and Hector were moved into a carriage with the help of aids who had not been placed under the empire's influence, and through the tunnel they fled.

The barricade bar of the estate gave way and a mob of angry townsfolk rushed onto the property. It was immediately apparent the property was deserted.

Outside of Pherae, Roy pulled the hood down from over his head as he rode up alongside the carriage his family remained inside in, "This is where the road forks."

"Roy," he watched as his mother climbed onto the driver's seat wearing full armor and with two swords on her belt, "Don't worry about Pherae, the moment your father wakes we will retake the city, your concern is now to the world. It's up to you and the other champions to set things right."

Roy nodded, "I'll find them, and then we'll make sure the empire never does anything like this again."

Lyn nodded as the four horses rode off towards the plains to the south, "It's entrancing, watching a new legend ride away into the distance."

Hours of riding went by in silence. No one wished to interrupt whatever was going through Roy's mind. They all intrinsically knew it was a lot to take in. The sun was setting as Pit called out to the group, "We should make camp soon."

"Thank you!" Ness cried out in exasperation, "I feel like I've been spanked non-stop for the last few hours on this thing!"

Roy couldn't help but laugh at the unexpected statement, "Then let's find something close by." Roy picked out a secluded spot while Pit went in search of firewood. In short order, Roy had a fire lit and Rock offered to heat up the food for the night.

Roy leaned against a boulder while staring at the stars that were beginning to dot the sky. Beside him, Ness slowly lowered himself to the ground, "Ahh!"

Roy chuckled, "Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

Ness shook his head, "Nope, I've always walked or ridden in a carriage."

"Then you did really well," Roy spoke encouragingly, "you are going to be sore for a while though sorry."

"Thanks, I guess," Ness shifted his weight, trying to sit in a way that wouldn't aggravate his soreness. He sighed as he tried to stop fidgeting and look seriously at Roy, "I didn't come over here to talk about me, I wanted to know how you're doing."

Roy nodded, "I'm fine, really."

Ness looked skeptically into Roy's face.

"Seriously," Roy assured again, "I mean, believe me, this was not how I thought things were going to go. I had this plan that once you and Rock had left with my father that Pit and I would ride unseen beside you until you boarded a ship bound for another continent. Then once that far from Pherae and heading further my father wouldn't be able to argue over my presence… Doesn't sound like that good of an idea now that I'm saying it outloud."

Ness shrugged, "I think it would have worked."

Roy sighed, "I wanted to be a part of this adventure. Last night I could hardly sleep, I was wishing so badly for something to change my father's mind and let me go. Since we left Pherae I was feeling guilty over having those thoughts just yesterday."

By the fire, Pit tried to dip his finger into whatever Rock was cooking. Rock swatted the hand away with a spoon and immediately the two started arguing.

Roy shook his head and laughed, "Honestly though, I'm… well I'm worried about Pherae, but not terribly so. I know everything there will work out fine."

"How do you mean?" Ness pushed now curious as to the source of Roy's confidence.

"I know my parents," Roy chuckled, "Once my father wakes, he and my mother will have Pherae under control in no time at all. They're both heroes of the nation after all. A foreign power coming in and inciting a minor riot, that's nothing compared to things they've had to deal with in their lives already."

"They sound awesome," Ness smiled.

"Yeah," Roy agreed, "so that means it's up to us to be awesome in what we have to do now."

They both looked up as Rock was struggling to hold Pit away from the pot, "You need to add salt!"

"It gets plenty of salt from the meat in the stew!"

"Why did I agree to let you cook?! Moron!"

"Well next time you cook, and no one will be able to eat at all!"

"I'm a great chef in case you don't remember!"

"Right, this coming from the guy who used to put eggplant on everything!"

Ness leaned closer to Roy again, "You don't suppose they're still under the effects of that incense a bit do you?"

"Eggplants are delicious!"

"Only in whatever strange mutant alien universe you crawled out of!"

Roy shook his head, "They seem strangely at ease at each other's throats."

Ness looked confused, "How do you mean?"

"Watch," Roy cleared his throat loud enough to get their attention, "Are you two almost done making out or would you like some privacy while you hold each other?"

Both Pit and Rock blushed and grew quiet. They separated and Pit pointed a finger at Rock, "He's the one that started it!"

Rock crossed his arms and turned his back to Pit, "By offering to make dinner for everyone? Oh please forgive my hostility."

"Mrow!" Ness cat called to punctuate the moment.

Pit puffed out his cheeks indignantly before he sat down in a huff and things went back to normal. The food was ready and Pit finally relaxed his posture as he was offered a bowl.

"Well?" Rock still sought Pit's opinion.

"..." Pit was silent for a moment, "Okay it's not bad."

After cleanup, Ness stood expectantly by Rock, "Are we going to keep training with new spells?"

Rock looked off at the horizon, "I'm a little worried that we may still be too close Pherae to do anything big. It would be pretty obvious for miles around that your lightning magic was going off if you start throwing super bolts around."

Ness nodded dejectedly, "Yeah I guess you're right."

"So instead I want you to practice your magic circles," Ness grinned as Rock gave him a thumbs up.

"You can use magic circles?" Roy asked curiously.

Ness nodded and began to explain, "Yeah Rock taught me while we were underground, they're great at amplifying spells when there are no other conductors of magic nearby." Ness pointed a finger in front of himself and began making circular motions with his arm. The air in front of him began to crackle and formed a large circle at least four feet across. In the center was the rune of lightning Ness had learned, and other symbols of the arcane surrounded it in a row along the circle's edge, "The more complicated the circle, the more energy it can amplify, but they take a lot of concentration to manifest. This circle has one ring of arcane symbols, so it's a level one circle."

Ness held his breath and rotated his hand faster. The circle doubled in size, and a second ring of arcane symbols appeared on it. Ness tilted his head and never stopped rotating his hand as he kept his concentration on the circle while he tried to describe it, "Now there are two rings, so that makes this a level two circle. Ummm…" Ness lost his words for a moment as the circle started fading from view, "The more rings and arcane symbols, the harder it is to keep focus on it, and it loses its effect if it starts to fade like that…"

"I'm impressed," Roy smiled he studied the symbols on Ness's circle, "Only very powerful battle mages ever used magic circles at the academy, they always stressed that one must have absolute control of your elemental aspect before you start experimenting with them."

Rock nodded, "It's supposed to be reserved for experts, but I think having a shard of the elemental crystal of lightning made it easier to tune into the energies needed to use a technique like that. The only thing left is to use more complex circles and try and reduce their size. As it is now, a circle that size is totally advertising to any skilled mage what you're about to do."

Ness nodded as he let out his breath that he'd been holding and the circle faded away, "Those circles are actually less than half the size they were when I first started, I was able to make a level three circle, but it was bigger than the room we were in at the time." Ness stretched his arm, "You should totally try it!"

"I've seen a magic circle of fire before…" Roy thought about it for a moment. Pit took a step back by Rock and Ness as Roy extended his hand forward in a similar method that Ness had used. He focused on what he wanted to see and used the motions of his hand to help keep the mental picture he had for it going. It took a few minutes of intense concentration, but a flame lit in the air in front of him and slowly it morphed into the rune of fire. Roy smiled to himself as the red energy spread into a ring to form the circle and the symbols he needed began appearing. It took a few more minutes to fully construct, but Roy had created his first magic circle.

The practice continued for several hours until mental exertion became its own kind of fatigue. The four boys lied on the ground in a plus shape with their heads near the center. Ness stared into the night sky and came up with an observation, "You can still see all the constellations from Eagleland from here."

Pit chuckled to himself, "Of course you can, no matter where you are, it's still the same sky."

"The sky is the same, but the constellations we know might be different," Roy pointed up at one, "Like in our stories, those eight stars there represent Dayan, The Silver Wolf. He was a legendary warrior, existing between the sky and the earth. He spread freedom through our continent and liberated the city states from their oppressors."

"That's really cool," Ness pointed to a cluster of stars that intersected through Dayan, "We call that one Brick Road, The Dungeon Man. They said he wanted to make a dungeon so bad that he used his own body to become an unnavigable maze. Anyone who entered him would be lost for eternity."

"That doesn't make any sense…" Pit tilted his head trying to get a better view of the constellation, "How does someone turn their body into a dungeon? And then anyone who went inside him? That just sounds dirty."

The others giggled to themselves at the remark. Pit put a finger in his mouth and made a loud pop sound to keep the laughter going.

Ness tilted his head back to get a better look, "It sounds like you're pretty good at that Pit."

"Maybe I am! What you think of that?!" Pit tilted his head back as well and grinned at Ness.

Remembering the night before, Ness blushed and went back to staring up the sky. His heart started beating faster as he so desperately wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure at all how to breech the subject.

Roy heard Ness sigh so he reached over his head and poked the boy, "What's up?"

Ness tilted his head slightly in Roy's direction, "You guys, if I told you something, would you promise not to get mad?"

"Of course," Roy replied immediately, "I don't stay upset for very long. I mean, I may swear vengeance on those who have wronged me or my friends, but then I move on until the time is right."

Pit laughed, "He's scary patient when it comes to that stuff too." Pit tried to also look reassuring to Ness, "Don't worry, I may yell at Rock anytime I feel like it, but I think you're cool."

Rock crossed his arms again and continued listening.

"Okay, here it goes…" Ness took a deep breath, "After I took my bath last night I was walking through the halls back to the guest room, and I walked by your room Roy."

"Yeah?" Roy wasn't sure what Ness was trying to imply.

Ness continued, "I didn't mean to spy on you guys, but I heard some noises coming from your room and well…"

All at once it hit Roy what he was doing the night before around the time Ness would have been walking by.

Pit scratched his head, "Where is this going?" Roy reached an arm over and jabbed Pit in the shoulder, "Oww, what?" It then clicked in Pit's head too, "Ooooooh…"

Rock's curiosity peaked as he remained perfectly silent and waited to see how this was going to play out.

"Well…" Ness took another breath, "I'd never seen anyone getting their dick sucked before."

Rock's eyes widened as he shifted to look between Pit and Roy.

There were a couple different scenarios going through Roy's head on how this could play out. Deciding to be a bit risky he turned his head to Ness and asked, "So what did you think?"

"Huh?" Ness blushed again, "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Roy gently poked Ness's shoulder, "Did it turn you on?"

"Y…" Ness had to turn the other way so he didn't have to say it while making eye contact, "Yeah."

Roy rolled over so he could see Ness's face despite him looking away, "And you wanted to try it." It wasn't a question.

Ness turned his head and looked at Roy before nodding his affirmation.

Roy grinned and gave Ness a squeeze on the shoulder, "There's nothing wrong with that. It feels really good, I promise you. Pit and I, well… we started playing like that about a year ago, and it's fun. So, whenever you feel like you're ready to try it, just give the word."

Ness was shocked by the easy going reaction, "Wait, really? That's it?"

Roy nodded, "Why Not? I was actually kinda worried that we wouldn't be able to do those sorts of things while we were around others, but if you're cool with it, or even better want to be part of it, then we can all still have a lot of fun!"

Pit rolled over and grinned at Ness, "So what have you and Rock done together?"

Rock scrunched his face, "He never said that we…"

Pit quickly rolled from his position and climbed onto Rock who allowed himself to be pinned down. He leaned in close to Rock's ear but whispered loud enough for the others to hear, "I bet you have!" Pit grinned teasingly, "I saw that look on your face when Ness mentioned what he saw. You were kind of excited weren't you?"

Rock narrowed his eyes and glared at Pit, "Maybe."

The teasing look never faded from Pit's face, "Have you ever been sucked off before?"

Rock looked away slightly, "No."

The grin on Pit's face grew even wider, "This is new, I've done something you haven't!"

"Yeah whatever," Rock wasn't one to take it lightly that one of his peers was more experienced in something than he was. Ness knew it was Rock's experiences that allowed him to keep that grounded demeanor of always knowing how to deal with anything. Some of the annoyance faded from Rock's face as his eyes met with Pit's, "So are we gonna do this or not?"

Excitement glimmered in Pit's eyes as he leaned back off of Rock. He started stripping Rock of his clothes, first he pushed the jacket off his shoulders and sat him up enough to pull it out from behind him, and then pulled off Rock's muscle shirt while he was in a good position for it. Immediately Pit pushed Rock back to his sleeping mat and leaned back on his knees.

Rock tried to watch as Pit unclasped his boots and pulled them off along with his socks. Pit leaned forward and grabbed tight onto Rock's pant covered thighs. Pit's face was so close to his crotch, and Rock watched intently as Pit rubbed his cheek against the tent in his pants.

Just a few feet away, Ness watched with his mouth slightly open as Pit molested his best friend. Roy sat up and moved closer to Ness, "What do you think?"

"It's…" Ness gulped hard.

"Just keep watching for a while then," Roy encouraged and left a little bit of distance between them.

Pit undid Rock's belt, then tried unclasping the buttons to the pants but only managed to get the top one undone without difficulty. Rock shook his head as he watched Pit tug on the buttons, "Here, let me help."

Pit made no comment, but once about four buttons were opened Pit pulled the pants off Rock's legs. Pit's fingers took hold of Rock's underwear. He looked up to meet eyes with his friend, "Ready?"

"Are you?" Rock challenged.

Pit snickered to himself as he quickly pulled the last garment off Rock's body, laying him bare under the star lit sky. Pit took a moment to look over Rock's body and nodded to himself, "Eh, about what I expected."

"I swear to…" Rock started to protest but Pit literally grabbed him by the balls before he could say anything more.

"That's a good boy," Pit grinned as he lowered his face between Rock's legs. "I'm gonna do this for real this time, so..." Pit's right hand angled Rock's penis upward as his tongue took its first taste of Rock's skin over his jewels. The tongue licked up several times over each testicle.

Rock exhaled deeply as his head sank back, his vision focused away at the night sky. He could feel the combination of Pit's tongue on his sensitive skin and then the cool night breeze as it whisked past the dampened skin which made the sensations even more intense.

Slowly Pit's tongue began to climb higher, up the pole towards the head. Pit paid close attention to the texture, he could feel what were almost like ridges under the skin on the right side of the shaft. It was different from his own or Roy's which excited him. Over the top and and he opened his mouth wide. Rock could feel Pit's warm breath over his dick and leaned up to watch again.

Ness's mouth went dry and he watched Pit begin to lower his mouth over his best friend's penis. Very slowly the rod was disappearing behind Pit's lips.

"Fffff…" Rock squeezed one eye shut while the other remained just barely open to watch what was happening.

Ness slowly moved a little closer to get a better look, "How is it?"

"It's…" Rock gulped then chuckled nervously, "It feels really good…" Pit sucked harder and purposefully made an obscene slurping sound causing Rock's eyes widened again, "He's doing something with his tongue, oh crap!" Ness smiled as he watched Rock tense up.

Ness leaned in and lowered his head so he could see whatever Pit's mouth was doing. He figured he was invited to watch so it was okay to really get a good look at what was going on.

Pit noticed Ness was pretty close and watching intently. He lifted his mouth off Rock's cock, a string of saliva connected them still until Pit wiped it from his lip. He rubbed the glistening member up and down with his hand and smiled at Ness, "So does it look like something you want to try, or have done to you?"

Ness didn't seem to have much of a voice when he opened his mouth. He had to take a moment and try again, "I think so, but I think I'd like to feel what it's like first."

Ness had almost forgotten that Roy was just behind him until he heard the crimson haired boy whisper in his ear, "Get your mat and put it next to Rock's."

There was an excitement in Roy's voice that only added to Ness's. He nearly scrambled to where he had his sleeping mat and quickly dragged it over. He rolled on top of it as soon as he had it positioned next to Rock's.

Roy grinned to himself as he watched Ness psych himself up for what was coming. He reached over and mussed Ness's hair to keep things playful, but felt something as his hand made contact with Ness's skin. His eyes widened as he pulled his hand back and looked at it closely. It was almost like a shock, it left a his hand tingling, a sensation that was far from unpleasant.

Once Roy turned his gaze from his own hand back to Ness he realized he must have felt something too as he was rubbing his own hand against his forehead. Ness gulped as he relaxed a bit, "Your hand was so warm."

Without wasting anymore time Roy began helping Ness pull his clothes off. First his tunic top, boots, and then pulled his pants from his legs. Every brush of Roy's fingers left trails of heat along Ness's skin. The warmth lingered only for a moment after contact was removed leaving Ness craving more.

Roy's fingers gripped onto the band of Ness's underwear. The tent in them flexed a few times as Roy watched, "Ready?"

Again Pit slurped loudly and Rock let out a low moan. Ness watched Pit's head bob up and down a few more times before he turned back to Roy and nodded, "Yes, please."

Roy laughed and shook his head before he gently pushed Ness down by his chest. Ness could feel the warmth of Roy's hand filling him and took a deep breath as the hand moved from his chest, across his stomach, and again to his underwear where it began to pull the last garment down.

Ness's dick sprang free from the band of his underwear and Roy licked his lips as he looked it over for the first time. Gently he took it into his hands to see if the effect they'd been experiencing would persist. Ness let out an immediate moan as Roy cupped his balls with one hand and wrapped the other around the shaft. To Roy the sensation was, if anything, more intense. The tingling that was coming into him from Ness was now working its way up his arms. It made him feel both weak and invigorated at the same time.

A minute passed in which Roy simply felt and observed this new body in front of him. Deciding it was time, Roy lowered himself between Ness's legs. First he blew his breath gently over Ness's crotch. Ness sighed deeply as even Roy's breath carried with it an intense warmth which would then immediately contrast with the breeze of the cool night.

Finally Roy's tongue reached out and touched smooth skin.

"Oh gods!" Ness spasmed as the tongue made only a teasing contact with his glands.

To Roy, it almost felt as though every slight contact of his tongue against Ness was drawing sparks. He let out a deep breath as that thrilling sensation began to climb over his tongue.

Deciding he'd waited enough, Roy positioned his head slightly over Ness's abdomen and began to take the tool into his mouth. Ness immediately groaned as his entire penis was encircled by something wet and so very hot.

Both Rock and Pit stopped for a moment themselves and watched as Ness's entire body spasmed slightly while Roy's head continued to slowly take in more of his twitching rod. Rock leaned over to get a view down Ness's body, "How does it feel?"

Without opening his eyes, Ness replied, "So good… I've… never felt anything like this…"

Not about to be outdone so easily, Pit chose that moment to resume sucking hard on Rock. Rock shivered and grinned as pleasure coursed through his body and caused him to return to his laid back position, "Yeah."

Roy raised his head up and off of Ness's member for a moment and touched his own tongue as if to confirm what he was feeling. He was also breathing hard as he tried to determine what was going on. He looked down at Ness's face and could see the desire Ness had for him to continue so he imagined Ness must also be feeling something extraordinary, but any questioning would have to wait.

In a rushed motion, Roy managed to pull his own shirt off, then lifted Ness's legs over his shoulders. Ness was confused for a moment but then also felt the heat coming into his body from the contact his legs were making with Roy's back while Roy shuttered from the electrifying contact against his own skin.

Without wasting anymore time, Roy lined Ness's penis up and engulfed it. Without meaning to, Ness lifted his hips forward, he could feel the head of his dick hitting Roy's throat. Roy's tongue was also sliding across every part of his tool, he could feel it even if he couldn't see it.

Ness couldn't stop himself from groaning as his eyes lidded over; his gaze fixed on the empty night sky. His body was overloaded with sensation; even his ears were focused on the sounds of both Roy's and Pit's slurping.

Ness was almost unaware that his breathing was picking up speed. Each breath was shallow and seemed to hitch in his chest. Rock reached over and ran his hand through Ness's hair. Ness squeezed his eyes tight and nearly shouted, "Oh! I'm gonna!"

Rock grit his teeth as he watched Ness tense up. His stomach muscles were contracting hard enough to lift him slightly from the mat. Roy gripped onto Ness's hips and made several hard sucks. Ness's hands were frantic for something to grip onto, eventually settling for Roy's hair as his body finally went over the edge, "I'm…! OH!"

Roy's mouth was filled with the salty contents of Ness's orgasm. He savored the taste for a moment before he swallowed down as much as he could.

Ness let out several long labored breaths as he completely emptied into Roy's mouth. "Oh gosh…"

The scene had proven itself hot for Rock as well and he knew he was quickly approaching his limit. "I'm almost there too, do you want me to pull out?"

Without stopping his head bobbing or sucking, Pit managed to shake his head and hum out, "Mmm mmm."

Ness turned his head to watch as Rock experienced the throws he was still coming down from.

Rock nodded as he closed his eyes and thrust his hips up to meet Pit's mouth a few times, "Yeah, that's it, I'm cumming!" Rock took in a deep gasp like breaths as. His body twitched and spasmed so Pit pinned his hips to the ground to better suck every last drop out of him.

Pit kept Rock inside his mouth for a minute, making sure to lap up and straggling sperm that might still leak out. Rock twitched every time Pit's tongue swiped across his sensitive head. Eventually Pit pulled off and Rock shivered. Pit had a proud look about him as he watched how much Rock was quivering, "So what did you think?"

"It was alright," Rock said simply as his breathing slowed and his eyes remained only slightly open.

Pit frowned at Rock's reaction and was about to shout at him when he noticed both Rock and Ness were practically asleep already. Pit crossed his arms, "It was alright… You'll be begging for it again in no time, just watch!"

Rock and Ness curled against each other almost naturally as they fell asleep. Pit shook his head as he watched them quickly doze away, "Ungrateful…"

Roy laughed as he pulled Pit over to the other mats, "First timers, come on we'll take care of you next."

Pit grinned as the two saw to each other's needs in the darkness.

* * *

 **End Chapter**

Thanks again for reading another chapter of Plan B! It's not even a surprise anymore that this chapter took another forever. What is surprising is that the next chapter is already done. I just have to edit it and then It will be up next week.

Hope to hear from you!


	10. To Kill an Ogre

Thank you, everyone, who has reviewed so far! I try to take the time to reply to every review I get, so if you left me a review and are interested to see my response then check it out on Tumblr #TaroReplies!

 **Last time on Plan B: Ballad of Swords**

After having arrived in Pherae and discovered Roy, the son of the Grand Duke, was in fact the Champion of Fire that Ness and Rock had been searching for, Ness caught sight of a bad omen. A carriage of the Golden Empire was left parked in front of the Pherae Manor. Diplomats of the empire, Gamgi's Vaati and Wario were meeting with Dukes Eliwood and Hector to negotiate a treaty. Unbeknownst to them, the third representative of the empire, Nabooru, had filled the room with an incense to sway emotions of the meeting to the empire's favor. The trick was discovered too late and both Eliwood and Hector signed the treaty before being poisoned in an attempt by the empire to seize full control of Pherae and bury evidence of the tampering.

With little other choice, our heroes were forced to flee Pherae. Roy's mother, Lyndis, urged her son not to worry over Pherae, and that she and his father would set things right as soon as he and Hector wake from their poison. Roy and Pit then set off with Ness and Rock to continue the mission of finding the remaining champions and saving the world from elemental imbalance. Knowing much confrontation still lies ahead they use their time to train in magic, grow stronger, and enjoy the journey.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 9: To Kill an Ogre****

* * *

Commotion was spreading throughout the town. Something big was happening, or someone important was coming. The Shark Guards and the Empirical Guards were busy cleaning up the streets of Onett while Mr. Minch barked orders.

A figure wearing a hooded cloak watched the activity with interest. While walking through shadows and cutting behind buildings, the figure made his way to a shop near the center of town and entered through the back door. Holes were still visible in the frame where a bell chime had once been in place, but now was removed so certain visitors could enter in silence. An elderly woman in the back room simply nodded to the shadowy traveller as he walked past and took the stairs into a basement.

Several people were already gathered around a table in a well insulated room with no windows, "Ah, Ninten, figured all the commotion would get your attention."

The hood fell back as Ninten took a look at what information was already spread out on the table, "Do we know who's coming?"

"Hard to say," a woman sifted through a few hand written letters, "Mr. Minch gets riled up every time someone from the empire shows up, but if I had to guess then I'd say this is more than just a visit from a Gamgi, maybe not one of the kings, but definitely someone important."

A young man looked up from the table, "Then is this our chance? If we could manage to capture a high priority figure from the empire then they'd have to start listening to our demands that the empire withdraw from Onett."

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Ninten rubbed his forehead, "I'm sure Rock would say something like 'A resistance movement has to be careful to always consider how an action would affect its goals.' So far we've been doing alright picking off lone guards and poorly guarded supplies, but someone this important is sure to have a lot of guards around them, and even if we were able to kidnap the person we'd then have to deal with the empire's full force coming down on us. We're not ready for something like that. No, our job is to keep making their soldiers stationed here miserable. The more miserable we make them the less they'll want to be here."

A door was slammed from the floor above causing the occupants of the basement to flinch and watch the stairs as running footsteps approached. Tracy dashed into the room, her eyes widened as she saw everyone holding a finger to their mouth to silence her, "Sorry! Sorry! But I have a letter that Mr. Minch wants delivered to Frank, but I figured you all would like to see it first!"

"Thanks Tracy, just be careful you don't get caught doing stuff like this, okay?" Ninten smiled to his younger cousin as he took the letter. "Mr. Minch is requesting every Shark Guard that can be spared to guard the Town Hall tonight. That'll be where he's hosting the diplomat."

The others nodded, "So is there anything we should be doing about this visit at all?"

Ninten grinned as he handed the letter back to Tracy, "We sneak into the Town Hall before the guards even get there, find out everything we can from this meeting, use what we find out against them, keep making them miserable. Sounds like fun right?"

Immediately the group broke to carry out their plan.

Hours passed and by evening the sound of an airship approaching echoed through the streets of Onett. Reminiscent of the night the empire invaded, one grand airship followed by two defensive doomships began circling over the Onett airspace. The lead ship broke off formation and began to descend towards the makeshift landing dock in the center of town.

Inside the Town Hall, the mayor's office had been transformed into a banquet hall and sitting area. Mr. Minch was the first to arrive with his children in tow, "You are both to say nothing! Do you understand me? Even a peep out of either of you and I swear to all that is holy…"

Picky quickly nodded without saying anything to signify he understood the terms. Pokey paid little attention as he messed with the tie on his shirt, actually making it even more crooked than it already was before he gave up and stared at the food on the banquet table. He grinned and reached over to grab something when his father immediately ran over and shoved him away from the table. Pokey fell on his butt and looked up at his father, "You will be the LAST one to grab any food from the table, is that clear?!"

Pokey stood back up and rubbed his behind, "Yeah, I got it…"

A man in dark blue wizard robes stepped into the room and cleared his throat. Immediately Mr. Minch put his arms around both his sons, his expression changed to his best faked loving family pose.

Obviously not impressed, the mage carried on, "Announcing his excellency, Prince Bowser the Second, of Darkland."

The three Minch's stood poised and as regal as possible to varying degrees of success for each one. From the stairs to the mayor's office bounded in a boy that looked no bigger than Picky who let out an almost high pitched laugh. The entire Minch family looked slightly dumbfounded at their guest.

"Ah, loyal subjects, you have prepared a feast! Come, let's eat!" The boy with fiery red hair and a bib with a sharp tooth grin on it began grabbing food off the banquet table and tearing into it without bothering to grab himself a plate to put it on.

After eating a few chicken legs and simply tossing the bones over his shoulder, Bowser Jr. looked over at his hosts who had not yet moved, "This ain't bad, but if you want some you better hurry."

"Ah, yes, of course, thank you," Mr. Minch was obviously not sure how to respond to the situation and attempted to keep his composure by acting in a way which he thought was dignified.

"Anyway," Bowser Jr. didn't bother swallowing before speaking as he chewed his food, "I'm here because I have a few questions I'm hoping you can help me with."

"Yes, anything we can do to assist the empire, you need but ask," Mr. Minch grabbed a pair of tongs to serve himself food, however the food he was reaching for was being grabbed by Bowser Jr.'s bare hand before he could get a good grip on it.

"Glad to hear! Glad to hear!" Bowser Jr. barely took a single bite out of some of the food items before he made a face, tossed it, then reached for another one, "Then I'm wondering what you might know of a legend that talks about elemental champions saving the world kind of thing?"

"I'm not one for fairy tales really," Mr. Minch cleared his throat as he was becoming slightly perturbed that he had not been able to grab a single thing off the table for himself yet, "Something about bringing together six chosen warriors might bring elemental magic into balance, or some other hogwash."

"That's the one!" Bowser Jr. lifted an entire container of meatballs off the table and held it under his arm like a snack bag as he began to walk around the room, "I heard something interesting from one of my cousins who's way over in Lycia right now. She said there was a boy in Pherae who claimed to be the Champion of Lightning."

Slightly flustered by the poor manners of a child, Mr. Minch tried cutting in, "I fail to see…"

"All you do is fail dad..." Mr. Minch's mouth fell open, shocked that he had been cut off by his own son with such a remark.

Mr. Minch tried to hide his trembling with a grin, "Oh… Pokey… Always joking at strange times…"

"I'm not joking dad," Pokey crossed his arms, "The empire would have been able to take over this whole area much easier if you had done things properly."

Picky watched wide eyed as Mr. Minch raised a trembling hand, "I warned you…"

Instead of stopping, Pokey continued to dig into his father, "If it was actually possible for you to pay attention to things happening beyond your own nose you'd see our guest is actually here to ask about Ness."

"Ohohoho, so you have some brains to backup the smart talk after all," Bowser Jr. laughed at the family squabble while Mr. Minch could only remain in place suddenly very cognizant of the fact that he'd completely lost control of this meeting.

"Obviously, if you're asking about someone with a strong affinity to lightning, and several of your doomships were destroyed here in Onett only a month ago by powerful lightning spells, then you must believe they're related," Pokey grinned as he took a few steps closer to the table.

"I like you, are you going to eat or not?" Bowser Jr. swallowed a chunk of whatever he was chewing as he motioned to the rest of the table.

"Don't mind if I do," Showing equally horrid manners, Pokey began reaching in and pulling food straight to his mouth, "What do you need to know about Ness?"

"I need to find him, but it's not safe to just start tailing someone with enough power to take down an airship single handedly. I need to know how he thinks, how he'll _respond_ …" Bowser Jr. actually passed the bucket of meatballs to Pokey, "Can he be made into an asset for the empire, or is he just a threat?"

Pokey nodded as he scooped out a few meatballs, "You need to come up with some scenarios to gain his trust then. I think that's possible, I used to be his best friend after all."

" _Used to be_?" Bowser Jr. tilted his head.

Pokey turned away for a moment, "We were always together when we were younger. Then the outsiders came. They put ideas in his head. Steered him away from what he could have been. But get them away from him and he can be all ours."

"I'm liking this already," Bowser Jr. turned his head to his servant, "Kamek! Pack up some of this food for the trip and tell the crew to prepare a cabin on board the ship for our new friend!"

"Right away," Kamek pulled out a wand with a jeweled tip. With a single wave over the table, the table cloth wrapped the food within it and floated it over to the magician, "We can be ready to depart within the hour."

"Umm… Prince Bowser the Second sir," Mr. Minch tried to regain the confidence in his voice, "Apologies sir, but it would take a little more time than an hour to make the necessary preparations for our duties here in Onett to be covered during our prolonged absence."

" _Our_?" Bowser Jr. chuckled and looked over to Pokey, "Do _you_ want to bring your family with you?"

Pokey looked over his father and snorted, "Not a chance, let's go!"

"So long!" Bowser Jr. left with Pokey snickering to his father as he walked past.

"But… Pokey…" Picky held his hand out as he watched him go. Their father watched silently, completely dumbfounded that his son had apparently upstaged him in the eyes of the empire.

The moment the Minches left the room, Ninten and the other members of the Onett resistance emerged from their hiding spots behind curtains and furniture.

One of the members shook her head, "So what does this mean for us? Nothing much changes right?"

Ninten looked out the window as Pokey and Bowser Jr. climbed onto the carriage, "I need you guys to do me a favor."

The tone in Ninten's voice immediately caused worry in the group, "What's that?"

"Tell my aunt that I'm sorry for being so much trouble, and that I promise to do everything I can to look after Ness," Ninten didn't even give the others a chance to question him before he pushed open the window and climbed out of the town hall.

The columns made a good surface for Ninten to slide down to the entrance. As quietly as he could, Ninten snuck around the Shark Guards. He was pressed for time, but couldn't afford to be caught as he used alleys and bushes to hide his movement toward the airship.

The carriage was already loaded onto the ship by the time Ninten made it to the town center. There wasn't much time, so Ninten just had to hope no one would see him as he dashed across the yard behind the guards.

The spinning propellers of the airship caused fierce winds to throw dirt and grass into the air around it. In shockwave blast of air, the ship separated from the ground entirely and began to slowly gain altitude.

Only a small window of opportunity remained as the ship lifted off the ground. The ladder to the deck was already far too high for Ninten to grab onto, but the anchor dangled lower than anything else below the flying barge. There was no time to think about it, Ninten made a running leap and barely caught the steel arms of the dangling metal. He managed to use his momentum to swing his lower body onto the anchor as well and then climbed up the chain as fast as he could.

The chain was being spooled into a small compartment free of other occupants. Ninten let out a sigh of relief and willed himself to breathe normally; the last thing he needed up here was an asthma attack. The turning spool finished reeling the anchor in and began to close the porthole. Ninten took his last glimpse of home as the ship began sailing into the sky.

Far away from Onett, in a shady clearing, a boy with orangey red hair and deep blue eyes sat at a fire warming his lunch. He skewered the small animals he'd caught and leaned the skewers over his campfire to try and cook them properly. He stared at his soon to be meal unenthusiastically, "I swear I better not poison myself…"

After a few minutes of cooking though he began to look more comfortable with his choice of meal, "Finally you're starting to smell like real food!" The boy took in a deep sniff and exhaled however something behind him continued sniffing after he had long since stopped. Slowly the boy turned his head over his shoulder; taking up his entire field of vision behind him was a large mouth.

Immediately, the boy jumped with a start and scurried away from the intrusion. The beast behind him stood on two legs, it was at least five meters tall, it had no eyes, but half of its face was a gigantic mouth with pointy teeth, it had a nose on either side of its face underneath its ears. It reached for a club that it lifted high above its head and tightened its massive muscles before letting out a snarl like scream as it brought the club down over the boy.

The red headed boy rolled out of the way as the club embedded itself in the ground. The shockwave completely blew away his camp site and sent his food scattering through the area.

"Great…" The boy looked up angrily at the large beast, "You jerk! Do you know how long it took me to find something edible around here?!" The boy held his hand to his side and an intense crackling of electricity began gathering in his fingers. The hue of the clearing changed as the light became overwhelming to the eyes. The boy aimed his hand forward and let loose a roar of thunder as the lightning streaked toward his target. Such a large creature had no hopes of dodging the attack; sparks exploded on contact and set nearby shrubs and dried thatch on fire.

The boy remained with his hand outstretched while catching his breath, "Learn your lesson?"

A menacing grumble was heard through the smoke. Before the boy could assess what damage he might have caused, the club swung out from the dark haze. The boy was able to feel the club brush through his hair as he ducked out of the way. The beast walked out from the smoke with only minor singe marks on its skin and was swinging wildly. The boy lost his balance as he tried to watch the club's movements. There was no time to climb back to his feet and he frantically rolled away.

Not able to pay attention to where he was going, the boy rolled into a large tree and no longer had room to jump away. His eyes widened as the club came down again over his head. He shut his eyes and braced for the neck breaking impact. He heard the club hit. Even the ground beneath him quaked from the strike. Without opening his eyes he figured he'd either been hit so hard that his death had been completely painless, or somehow the strike had missed. He opened an eye and noticed a shadow between himself and the club. Pit smiled at the boy as he he held a huge shield over him that had anchored itself into the ground in four places to dissipate the force of impact.

Rock jumped onto Pit's shield and used the leverage to flip himself over the giant creature. His hand barely made contact with the monster, but it was enough to leave a glowing object attached to its shoulder. Rock landed behind the brute and and tackled the back of its knees as his crash bomb exploded which sent the beast cascading backwards to the ground with an earth shaking thud.

Ness held a hand out to the boy they had saved, "You looked like you could use some help."

"I was fine!" The boy looked away from the proffered hand and pushed himself to his feet.

"Maybe, but us lightning casters have to look out for each other, right?" Ness grinned as he watched the beast roll across the ground, "That's a pretty big ogre, their skin is like a beetle shell, it's so thick that if you can't puncture it then lightning magic will have no effect."

The boy grit his teeth as the ogre found solid footing and began to climb to its feet again, "So it's impossible to kill it with lightning…"

Ness shook his head, "No, you either have to hit it hard enough to break the skin, or hit it in a place that isn't protected by the thick skin."

The ogre howled loudly as it lifted its club and swung at the boys. Ness quickly pulled out his yoyo, it crackled with lightning energy as it spun and extended its sharp serrated blades. It quickly buzzed through half of the club, sending the top end flying off into the forest. The ogre stumbled at the sudden loss of weight in the momentum of his swing.

"There!" Ness got the boy's attention while pointing at the ogre's face, "A weak spot."

The red headed boy's eyes widened as he realized Ness was referring to the open mouth. Without much time to charge, the boy gathered a small ball of lightning to his hand and threw it at the open maw. The bolt entered before the ogre turned out of the way and the result was immediate. The entire creature spasmed as it hit the ground and convulsed for a moment.

As the ogre rolled on the ground, it dropped everything it was holding and began panting heavily. The boy took a step forward and began aiming a more powerful bolt at the creature.

"STOP!" Ness jumped in the way, "It's done."

The boy looked oddly at Ness as the ogre crawled away before getting up on it's feet and retreated as quickly as it could into the forest. He sighed as he lowered his hands and released the charge of energy he had built up, "What would you have done if it attacked again?"

"If it kept on fighting we wouldn't have had a choice, but it was running away so there was no reason to kill it," Ness explained.

"Gods, you sound like my brother," the boy shook his head and crossed his arms, "I guess I should say thanks still…"

"No problem!" Ness held his hand out, "I'm Ness, these are my friends Rock, Pit, and Roy."

The boy stared at Ness's hand for a moment before deciding it was okay to shake, "Claus."

Pit's shield retracted into his armor as he ran up to the two, "So do you know if there's a town nearby? We're looking for a port you see and we might have gotten… well… Rock might have gotten us a little lost?"

Rock narrowed his eyes, "Hey! You were the one who decided it would be quicker to cut through the forest instead of following the trail!"

"You were the one who actually lost the map though!" Pit defended.

"Actually…" Ness scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, "I was the one who set the map on fire…"

Roy put his hand on Ness's shoulder, "And the fire might have flared up when I got too close… I'm not really used to that yet sorry…"

Claus shook his head, "You guys are weird." He pointed off in a direction past the clearing, "If you keep cutting through that way you'll reach my village, Tazmily, there's an ocean port there, but not much else."

"Cool, want to head back together?" Ness offered.

"Nah," Claus shrugged, "I'm not going that way."

"Where are you going then?" Ness asked curiously.

Red tinged Claus's face, "That's none of your business!"

Ness put his hands up defensively, "Alright, sorry! Sorry!"

Claus sniffed and sighed, "I didn't mean… I'm sorry, things have just been rough there for a while, so I'm going on a hunt. I think that's the only thing left that will make me feel better."

"Check it out!" Roy called from the clearing, "That ogre dropped a sack, it's filled with some weird stuff."

"Dibs!" Claus called as he ran over to take a look at the bounty. Claus opened the large satchel and immediately wretched, "Oh gods! What died in there?!"

Roy held his nose as he held up a dismembered leg of some kind of bear like animal, "I guess it was holding on to this for a snack later…"

"I think it expired…" Claus was about to give up on the rest of the satchel when another smaller pouch caught his eye. He plucked the small pack and dumped its contents on the ground.

Inside the sack were several coins of varying worth amongst a few shiny stones and gems, but in the middle was something that immediately caused Roy to double take, "I don't believe it… GUYS! It's one of the shards!"

Immediately the other three surrounded the items and stared at it. "It's blue!" Ness reached over to pick up the shard but Claus beat him to it.

"This thing's kinda important huh?" Claus held it close to his eye as if he were trying to see through it.

"Important?" Ness laughed, "We need it in order to save the world!"

"Save the world?" Claus laughed sarcastically, "Alright then hotshot, how much is it worth to you?"

"What?" Ness blinked as he processed that Claus expected to be paid to hand over the item.

Claus hummed as he gripped the shard protectively, "Yeah, the way I see it, this thing never would have been found if I hadn't been cooking at the right time and place and gotten attacked by the ogre in the first place, that's gotta be worth something, right?"

Pit scowled at the snarky boy, "Umm… And you would have been ogre lunch had we not come around when we did?"

"I already told you once, I would have been fine, I could have taken it," Claus took a defensive step back, "So do I hear an offer?"

The others looked to each other for a moment as they internally tried to decide how to deal with the boy's demand. Rock cleared his throat as he smiled confidently, "Sure, name your price."

"Well... " Claus thought for a moment, "If it really is something so important that the world is depending on it…"

"Oh almost forgot," Rock interrupted, "We can pay you whatever you want, but you'll have to come with us to our ship that will be waiting for us in Tazmily."

Claus's eyes widened, "Oh… Well… That's ummm… I mean… how much do you guys have on you right now?"

"Why don't you want to go back to town?" Rock questioned.

Claus's eyes narrowed, "Does it matter?!"

Rock shrugged, "The way I see it if you're going that way then what you need more than money is food and supplies, especially after that ogre just ruined your lunch."

At that moment Claus's stomach rumbled at the thought of food causing his eyes to widen a bit, "Food wouldn't be… a bad thing you know."

"If you're really going to set off on this hunt of yours, you should really be prepared," Rock began pulling out rations and tools from his backpack. "I'll give you enough food to last about a week, there's also a few knives, a collapsable shovel, a hatchet, a lantern, some oil, a bedroll, and a blanket."

Claus looked towards the ground, he realized now he might have been really unprepared for what he wanted to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the shard then handed it to Rock, "Deal."

"Pleasure doing business," Rock nodded as carefully placed the shard into a pouch.

"Well then," Claus took a bite out of a dried ration, "Hey that's actually not too bad, but you guys should get going if you want to make it to town before dark. Keep going straight that way and you should make it to town in four or five hours."

Claus made sure everything fit in his backpack before he slung it over his shoulder and turned around, "Maybe I'll run into you guys again someday." He waved without turning around and started walking again, "See ya!"

Ness took a few steps closer and called out to him, "Hey Claus, I hope you find whatever you're looking for!"

Claus stopped for a moment. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others were already walking away. He nodded to himself to reaffirm his own resolve and continued on through the forest.

"Look!" As Claus had promised, several hours of riding later the group was able to see signs of a village.

By evening the four were wondering the streets, approaching the docks. Rock took a look at the boats that were moored, "I was really hoping to find some larger ships here."

Pit examined the ferries in the dock, "I'd like to find something more reliable than the last boat that left us stranded on the coast of this nowhereisland. That was a bad trade for good horses by the way…"

Roy shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed, "There were no professional ships heading in this direction that weren't waving empire colors. At least we made it most of the way to Hyrule so hopefully we can get a ride from one of these ferries the rest of the way there."

Rock patted Roy on the shoulder, "We all agreed that it was the best we could do at the time. And besides, if we hadn't ended up stranded on this island we wouldn't have found a crystal shard so it all worked out."

The pep talk helped Roy feel better as he approached someone who looked to be a captain, "Excuse me sir, are you accepting passengers to any nearby ports soon?"

The man leaned against the dock post and examined the four boys in front of him, "Ain't no one settin' sail in these waters any time soon lad."

Pit fought off the urge to speak in an accent, "Why not?"

"'Tis the season," The bearded man explained, "Sea creatures o' the blimey deep have taken nest in shallower waters to hatch their next kin. And this year they've got a hell'ova brute with 'em. A great kraken, hundreds 'o feet long. Aye, as long as that sea monster be roamin the straight 'twen here and Hyrule no vessels be settin sail."

"A kraken…" Rock thought for a moment, "It's way too warm for kraken's here…"

"As long as the kraken is here…" Roy repeated, "thank you for the information, we'll be back."

All four boys began walking back away from the docks. Pit hurried to walk alongside Roy, "Got a plan?"

"Not really a plan," Roy admitted, "But if the people won't sail because there's a kraken in the water, we could just get rid of the kraken."

"That sounds risky…" Rock hummed to himself, "If it's as violent as it sounds then it could sink a ferry like those before you have much time to do anything."

"I'm not worried," Roy put an arm around Ness's shoulder, "If it's a sea monster we have to deal with then we've got the best defense against sea monsters right here!"

Ness grinned to himself and nodded, "Yeah, anything that's based on water is weak against lightning!"

The boys weren't able to discuss much else as a voice that was almost familiar was heard calling over the sounds of the rest of the village, "Claus! Where are you Claus?"

Ness stopped and stared in the direction he heard the calling coming from, "Do you guys think?"

"Has anyone seen Claus?" the voice called again.

Roy nodded, "It must be."

Ness sighed and started walking toward the shout. Ness dodged around the people and worked his way up to the next block.

"CLAUS!" Ness rounded one last corner and saw the boy standing in the middle of the road looking around from side to side. The boy turned around and made eye contact with Ness. His blond hair was brushed forward and spiked at the end, and his deep blue eyes did little to hide the concern he was feeling.

The boy stopped shouting as his eyes met with Ness. He gulped as if already knowing something was about to happen as Ness slowly approached him, "I haven't seen you in Tazmily before."

Ness shook his head, "I'm not from here."

"Oh," The boy twitched nervously, "but you know something about my brother, Claus?"

Ness nodded, "We ran into him a few hours ago while we were walking toward Tazmily, he was walking in the opposite direction and said he wasn't coming back."

The boy's eyes widened for a moment, then he looked away and took a moment to compose himself, "He did? Just like that? I mean… did he say why?"

Ness felt bad being the one to break the news, but felt it was better knowing than not, "He didn't say much really. When we found him he was being attacked by an ogre. We helped him fight it off, but then all he said was that he had to go on a hunt, something about it being the only way he'd feel better…"

The boy's expressive eyes again turned to Ness, "A hunt… he wouldn't…"

"Do you know…?" Ness was about to ask when a hand latched onto his wrist.

"Come with me, please!" The boy turned and began running up the hill with Ness in tow, "I need you to explain to my dad what you just told me!"

Ness gulped as he didn't seem to have much of a choice. He barely had a chance to look over his shoulder and make sure his friends were still following.

After a short sprint out of town they came upon grassy fields of grazing sheep. A log home stood in the middle of the pasture with a dog standing watch in front of it. The door opened as the group approached and a man wearing brown cowboy clothes stepped out. The man took a quick look at the strange youths who were piling up on his patio, "Lucas, what's going on? Where's Claus?"

The blond haired boy, Lucas, had yet to let go of Ness's wrist as he tried to explain, "I found someone who saw Claus leaving town!"

Immediately concern washed over the man's face, "Leaving town? What happened?"

Again Ness explained what he had seen of Claus.

The man removed his hat and took in a few deep breaths, "A hunt? What the hell is that boy thinking?"

"Dad…" Lucas started quietly, "Remember the letter we got from Grandpa? He mentioned a family of dragons were nesting in the mountains."

Lucas's father looked as though a sudden realization came to him, "So he thinks…" One of his hands came to rest over his eye as he shook his head, "We need to find him before he does something stupid. You, boy!" The man pointed at Ness, "I need you and your friends to take me to where you saw him."

Ness wasn't sure what he had gotten himself into, but quickly agreed, "I can do that."

"I'll help too," Ness was almost startled by an unfamiliar voice. He turned and saw a boy with wild sandy brown hair, blue eyes, wearing black shorts and a white v-neck. The newcomer was looking almost as anxious as Lucas.

"Thanks Sora, let's go then," the man pushed past the group and whistled to the dog who followed behind as they all began the trek out of town.

The group ran quickly through the forest. Rock led the way for the most part as he backtracked through their earlier steps. The group was slowing down from fatigue when Sora hopped in front of the group. His hands gave off a pale green glow before he spoke the command, "Restore!" The glow washed over the entire group and immediately everyone felt their tiredness fade.

"That's an awesome trick!" Pit smiled gratefully to Sora as they continued at full pace again.

Lucas grinned at Sora, "He's a great spirit mage."

"Spirit magic…" Ness repeated as his mind wandered off elsewhere for a moment.

There was hardly any sunlight left once they came across the clearing. Ness pointed to what was left of the ogre's sack, "This is where we last saw him."

"Boney," the man called to the dog who ran up and wagged his tail, "I need you to find Claus, understand? Claus."

The dog barked and began sniffing around the area. It barked again and started running through the forest. Pit followed behind Boney, cutting at thick brush so everyone could keep their pace up while Rock shined a light over his shoulder.

Within another hour the forest had gone from dark to pitch black. Boney had slowed down and was sniffing at a particular spot. Again the dog started barking as it clawed at the steep cliff side.

"Up there, boy?" The man tilted his head up and saw what looked like ledges that it might be possible to climb to. From high above the group could hear the growling sounds of multiple creatures. "We don't have time, we have to get up there."

"No problem," Pit threw his shield onto the ground. It flattened out into a large disk, "Everyone stand here."

Lucas looked at the warping metal hesitantly. Ness held a hand out, "It's okay, trust us."

With a little more determination, Lucas accepted Ness's help to steady himself as he stepped onto the makeshift platform.

"Going up!" Pit waved his hand and the metal disk grew several poles that embedded themselves in the ground and began pushing the group up the mountain as they extended.

Everyone jumped onto solid ground once the disk reached the top and Pit immediately reformed the metal into his shield. At the summit of the cliff, the group found themselves surrounded by dozens of small dragons. They were mostly different shades of blue and green ranging in size from a large dog to slightly bigger than a fully grown person, most of them had two horns on their head and one at the tip of their beak.

Pit looked around at the herd, "Are these Keio Dragons?"

"What are you guys doing here?" A voice called from the other side of the summit.

"Claus!" Lucas called out as he ran a few steps closer, "Claus, none of these dragons is the one that killed our mother!"

Claus seemed to roll his eyes, "Yeah, I figured that out, thanks."

"Son," their father stepped over alongside Lucas, "You missed out on dinner, I think it's time we all went home."

Claus stared at the ground for a moment, "These dragons are kinda cute aren't they? I'd never mistake one of these for _that_ dragon…" Claus looked up at his father, "I remember it dad; I'll never forget. Its scales were colored like gems and lava, and its eyes were red like blood. I looked in them and saw… actual evil. When it bit into mom with all of those teeth… I could see its beak was longer than she was tall… And then there was that woman… so… _hideous_ … she stood in the flames and laughed as she ordered the dragon to kill us."

Though unnoticed by most, the color had completely drained from Rock's face. Pit wrapped his arm around Rock's shoulder and leaned close to whisper, "There's no way he's talking about the same dragon…"

"I'm sorry son," the man was looking emotional himself, "We never talk about it do we? Let's go home and I promise I'll listen to what you're dealing with."

Claus shook his head, "It's been three years dad, I don't need to talk about it, I need to do something about it." He hopped up onto the back of one of the larger blue dragons.

"What are you doing?!" Lucas shouted at his brother.

"I'm gonna call this one Spot," Claus patted the head of the friendly dragon, "We're going to find that woman and her dragon, and I'm going to kill it."

Claus's father tried approaching him, "Don't do this Claus, not like this!"

Before his father could get to close, Claus pushed his heels into Spot's side causing the dragon to jump into a sprint. The sudden start caused the other dragons to run as well in a near stampede as they dashed towards the edge of the cliff. Together their small wings opened and they dove from the cliff side.

"CLAUS!" the man shouted after them as they flew off into the night. They were almost out of sight as the man sunk to his knees. His fist began pounding against the ground, "I've already lost my wife… I can't lose my _son_ damn it!"

Lucas remained quiet as he stood just behind his father.

The others waited in silence for the man to collect himself. Once the man finally stood the intense look in his eyes kept everyone from speaking. Pit created a platform to lower everyone from the cliff and they all hiked through the darkness.

"Dad," Lucas was the first to try and break the chokehold of the silence, "We're closer to grandpa's house than ours, I… umm… I think we should go there for the night."

Lucas's father didn't stop or even acknowledge that Lucas had spoken. After several more meters without a response Lucas tried again, "Dad?"

"Go…" the man said in a near monotone voice.

"Dad, do you need any…" Lucas tried to ask out of concern.

"LEAVE ME!" the man turned with such a sudden fury that Lucas fell backwards. The change of tone was jarring and left Lucas terrified and still. Ness ran to Lucas's side, in part to help Lucas up, but also in part to make sure his father didn't lash out in his anger.

The man saw the look in Ness's eyes, as if the boy were cat ready to leap away from a predator, "Don't judge me with those eyes boy, you have no right!"

Sora put himself between the group and Lucas's father, "Flint please stop, you're scaring everyone!"

"Even the castaway boy thinks he can tell me what to do now?" There was both an anger and a calmness to the man that made him even more intense and terrifying.

"That's enough!" Lucas pulled himself to his feet, "We're going to Grandpa Alec's!" He didn't wait for an answer as he turned and started walking. Flint watched him go for a moment before he left in a different direction. Lucas heard his father's footsteps leaving and he kneeled down beside his dog, "Boney, follow my dad, keep him safe alright?"

Boney barked quietly in acknowledgement before chasing after Flint.

Once on his feet, Lucas motioned for everyone else to follow him, "My grandpa's house should only be a few miles this way."

Roy let out a, "Thank you," as they continued to follow Lucas.

It was the middle of the night when they came to a two story house at the end of the path. Lucas walked around the house to the backdoor which was unlocked, "Wait here a minute, I'll wake grandpa up and let him know we're here."

Once Lucas was out of the room Pit leaned in closer to Sora, "Hey, so I know we all just met and this has all been kind of awkward, but is there anything we can do to, like, help?"

Sora sighed and shrugged, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Lucas has always been really quiet. It's a lot easier to talk to Claus since most of the time he made sure everyone knew how he felt. Lucas kind of bottles things inside and deals with them his own way.

Lucas came back into the room, "Grandpa said we can use the guest room, there's some spare blankets in the closet we can put on the floor and stuff. This way," Lucas led everyone up the stairs. It had been a long day and most of the boys immediately pulled off their gear and buried themselves under some covers.

Though he was also tired, Ness noticed Lucas had finished up in the bathroom but then instead of going to bed he went downstairs. The others were falling asleep so Ness quietly snuck down stairs as well.

The back door was still cracked open so Ness followed it outside into the star lit night. At first Ness couldn't spot where Lucas had gone. He walked around the house once and was about to give up when he noticed a shadow near the edge of plateau overlooking the forest. As he walked closer he could tell Lucas had his face buried in his knees, "Are you alright?"

Lucas twitched then looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, no problems…"

Though uninvited, Ness sat beside Lucas and let his legs dangle off the side of the property, "I'm sorry, I know today was really hard for you and I feel kind of responsible."

"What?" Lucas laughed slightly, "Why would you feel that way?"

"I mean…" Ness gulped as he thought through his feelings, "First I ran into your brother, and maybe if my friends and I hadn't helped him beat that ogre it would have scared him into coming back. And then we also gave him tools and stuff so he could leave. And then, I was the one who actually told you and all that."

Lucas half grinned and shook his head, "Don't feel bad about that. Honestly I'm glad you helped him."

"Oh… well…" Ness stammered as he tried to figure out what was happening in their conversation, "Then… you're welcome?"

Lucas laughed, "I'm sad that Claus is gone, but it's not because he left?" He also had a hard time explaining his feelings, "What makes me feel the worst is that he left and didn't take me with him."

"Ohhh…" Ness nodded understanding a bit.

"He's my twin brother, so we've always been together," Lucas finally relaxed his posture a bit as he leaned back, "He's talked about leaving a lot over the last three years. I knew he had been training how to use magic and stuff, but I always figured it was just talk, you know? I never thought he'd actually do it. And I guess I'm kind of jealous that he's going to be out there now on like this big adventure without me."

Ness felt he was starting to understand what was going on, "So you want to go on an adventure too?"

"Yes, well.. Maybe? I don't know…" Lucas blurted out but then clammed up again, "There's not a whole lot I could do as an adventurer. I'm not that strong, I don't have magic, there's not a lot of practical stuff that I'm any good at…" Lucas closed his eyes and smiled at Ness, "So I bet Claus didn't ask me to go with him cause he knew I'd be bad at everything!"

Ness frowned, "If you want to become something then you should work work hard and do it."

Blue eyes started blinking in surprise, "Huh?"

"Well, from what I've seen," Ness began to explain, "no one is born awesome at anything, but when you work hard at something you get better, even if you don't notice it yourself."

Lucas looked down again, "My mom always used to say things like that… Work hard and you can do anything!"

Sensing the delicate subject, Ness looked down as well, "She must have been really amazing."

Lucas smiled sadly as he looked up, "She was. She loved everyone, and everyone loved her. Her smile would make you think of sunflowers, and no matter how you were feeling you'd feel better afterwards."

Ness's mouth fell open. He'd never heard so much emotion poured out about someone. It made him miss his own mother very much, "I really wish things could have been different."

"I just…" Lucas sighed as he realized what he was about to admit, "Since she died, I haven't been able to feel the same about anything. I haven't had a real reason to… _try_ …"

"You should though, try I mean." Ness scratched the back of his head as he tried to word what he wanted to say, "Even if it's hard, even if you don't want to, and it's fine to stop and take a break sometimes, but you should still find something you care about and work at being better at it."

Lucas blinked a few times as Ness's words sank in, "You're pretty cool, you know?"

"I'm glad you think so," Ness chuckled nervously, "Cause I thought I sounded like an idiot."

Both boys laughed and then continued to look over the mountain forest in silence for a moment.

After looking through the trees, a question struck Ness that he couldn't help but ask, "Is your dad going to be alright?"

"Yeah, he knows this forest really well, I'm not worried." A slight smile came across Lucas's lips while he was still looking away from Ness, "You looked like were ready to fight him for a minute there."

Ness cringed, "I wasn't sure what he was going to do, he was so angry. When I saw him freak out over you I wasn't sure if he was gonna stop or not."

"You remind me a bit of my brother," Lucas admitted, "Maybe that's why I'm actually telling you all these things even though we've never met before…"

"Well we are both lightning mages," Ness kept a friendly smile on his face while he drew a glowing path in the air with his finger, "I really don't mind though, tell me anything."

Lucas watched as the glowing trail left by Ness's fingers slowly dissipated, "That's cool. Actually there are a lot of things I couldn't tell him either," Lucas admitted, "He was always dad's favorite. He never saw how we were treated differently, but I could tell."

"I'm sorry," Again Ness felt at a loss for a response, "I have a sister who I always thought got more attention than I did, but that was normal because she was the baby, you know?"

Lucas finally looked up at Ness's face with a question in his eyes, "So why did you leave home?"

"I didn't have a choice…" Ness bit his lip realizing it was his turn, "My hometown was attacked. I tried to save everyone. But they were too strong… My mom told me to run. I swore I'd get stronger and go back and save them… I still have to get so much stronger." Ness was taken by surprise, he hadn't realized that deep down he was still feeling that emotional over his home.

Still dealing with the introspective shock, Ness was brought back to his senses as Lucas practically hurled himself at him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, "I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"Hey, it's okay right," Ness assured his new friend, "No one was really hurt badly, and I know things will turn out fine in the end."

Lucas couldn't help but match Ness's smile, "Yeah."

"How about we go to sleep before the sun rises?" Ness mentioned pushing himself to his feet.

"Good idea," Lucas agreed as they returned to the house. Before they reached the staircase, Lucas grabbed onto Ness's hand, "And thank you, you know, for listening to me and all that."

Ness grinned and nodded, "Anytime."

* * *

 ** **End Chapter****

Lucas has finally entered the story! And hopefully Sora was a good surprise. The Keio Dragons are totally from a Sega CD game that no one has ever heard of called Keio Flying Squadron.

I really enjoyed coming up with the dialogue in this chapter. Enough that it was all written in like two sittings. That never happens with me. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it too.

Let me know in the comments!


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